Patent Publication Number: US-11032134-B2

Title: Providing and managing an adapter as a service (AaaS) brokering service

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates in general to computing systems, and more particularly to, various embodiments for providing and managing an adapter as a service (“AaaS”) brokering service using a computing processor. 
     Description of the Related Art 
     In today&#39;s society, consumers, businesspersons, educators, and others use various computing systems in a variety of settings. Computer systems may include data storage systems, or disk storage systems, to process and store data. For example, many businesses, organizations, educational institutions, or governmental agencies need to share data with various constituents for a variety of business, educational, and/or governmental purposes while also ensuring access to the appropriate computing systems and resources is maintained. 
     As the technology field increases, it becomes even more critical for computing systems to provide a variety of conveniently accessible frameworks and technologies that ensure that the appropriate persons in an enterprise have the appropriate access to the computing system resources. It is of paramount importance that a user is enabled to accesses to various computing applications (e.g., Software as Service (SaaS), on-premises services, and servers, network and storage devices, etc). To achieve increased productivity and user experience, security, and compliance, provisioning of accesses needs to be automated and efficiently managed. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     Various embodiments for managing an adapter as a service (AaaS) in a computing environment by a processor, are provided. In one embodiment, by way of example only, a method for managing an adapter as a service (AaaS) in a computing environment, again by a processor, is provided. Accesses to identity and access management (IAM) systems may be provided via an adapter as a service (AaaS) functioning as an exchange service between users and providers of various types of adapters. The various types of adapters in the AaaS enable provisioning and de-provisioning to one or more of the plurality of IAM systems. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       In order that the advantages of the invention will be readily understood, a more particular description of the invention briefly described above will be rendered by reference to specific embodiments that are illustrated in the appended drawings. Understanding that these drawings depict only typical embodiments of the invention and are not therefore to be considered to be limiting of its scope, the invention will be described and explained with additional specificity and detail through the use of the accompanying drawings, in which: 
         FIG. 1  is a block diagram depicting an exemplary cloud computing node according to an embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 2  is an additional block diagram depicting an exemplary cloud computing environment according to an embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 3  is an additional block diagram depicting abstraction model layers according to an embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 4  is an additional block diagram depicting various user hardware and cloud computing components functioning in accordance with aspects of the present invention; 
         FIG. 5  is an additional block diagram depicting providing and managing an adapter as a service (AaaS) brokering service in accordance with aspects of the present invention; 
         FIG. 6  a block flow diagram depicting an exemplary functionality for providing and managing an adapter as a service (AaaS) brokering service in accordance with aspects of the present invention; and 
         FIG. 7  is a flow chart diagram depicting an exemplary method for providing and managing an adapter as a service (AaaS) brokering service in a computing environment in accordance with aspects of the present invention. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     As discussed above, various forms of computing systems may provide policies and frameworks for accessing various computing system. One such framework is Identity and Access Management (“IAM”) governance. An IAM is a set of processes and policies for organizations to manage risks and maintain compliance with regulations and policies by administering, securing, and monitoring identities and their access to applications, information, and systems. An IAM systems, applications and platforms may manage identifying and ancillary data about entities that include individuals, computer-related hardware, and computing applications. 
     Although potentially complex in implementation, the concept of IAM Governance is fairly straightforward: determine who should have access to what resources and who should not, according to government regulations, industry-specific regulations, and business regulations and guidelines. Typically, key aspects of IAM Governance include access request governance, entitlement certifications, reports and audits, and analytics and intelligence (including role management, entitlement management, separation of duties enforcement, and privileged identity management). An end-to-end AM Governance solution may also provide related functions, such as access enforcement, user provisioning, password management, and user lifecycle management. IAM systems protect enterprise data and applications with context-based access control, security policy enforcement and business-driven driven identity governance. These systems may be operated in a standalone manner, in association with cloud-based environments, or in hybrid environments. 
     As a result, many enterprises implement their own solutions to govern the swarm of computer system entitlements. Thus, one challenge to both a user and vendor/provider is how to govern computing systems built on different technologies from a single platform. One such solution to this challenge is to build different adapters/connectors that bridge an IAM platform with a particular computing systems. Currently, IAM providers/vendors provide proprietary solutions that are customized to each individual client. However, such customization “locks” down the client to this single solution provided by the particular IAM provider/vendor. Thus, being locked into the adapters/connectors provided only by the IAM provider/vendor causes the switching of IAM providers to be extremely cost intensive and inefficient. 
     For example, each identify governance and administration (“IGA”) offering of a provider/vendor may provide its own adapters or connectors to different types of applications and servers. While the industry/market leaders all have a list of adapters/connectors that cover the most common types of applications and infrastructure components, companies and users/customers as a whole suffer from the following deficiencies. First, there are always additional application or server types that the access provisioning product/offering vendor do not provide, and therefore customers need to develop custom adapters/connectors, which are costly and time-consuming to develop, maintain, and support. Second, developing a new adapter/connector for a new type of application or server is technically challenging. The means it provides are often different—Application Programming Interface (API), Command Line Interface (CLI), batch processing mechanisms, or even Robotic Process Automation via native administrative console. Third, adapters or connectors are propriety to vendors&#39; offerings, cannot be shared across vendors, require deployment and hosting, and are not available in the form of “Adapter as a Service” feature as provided herein by the present invention. Each of these factors prevent users/entities from realizing quick time to value for their IGA investments, add significant cost, and negatively impact their return on investment (ROI). 
     Accordingly, various embodiments as described herein provide an IAM adapter/connector as a service (e.g., adapter as a service “AaaS”) where multiple providers/vendors may provide one or more adapters/connectors that may be consumed by different users/vendors as a service. Moreover, the AaaS computing platform may enable users/clients that desire to govern their own IAM posture and to be provider/vendor agnostic to increases scalability, extensibility and fluidity needed for run an IAM operation. 
     In one aspect, mechanisms of the illustrated embodiments provide an Adapter as a Service (AaaS) (e.g., a Software as a Service (SaaS)) for IGA adapters or connectors. The AaaS provides one or more vendors a platform to monetize their adapter assets outside of their customer bases, and customers the benefits of consuming adapters from the AaaS marketplace. In this way, each vendor-provided adapter/connector is offered as a SaaS (e.g., the AaaS) without requiring a user/customer to develop, maintain, or support their own customized adapters. The AaaS may be consumed and/or used through a standardized system for cross identity provisioning RESTful application programming interfaces (“APIs”). In addition to its own adapter offerings, the AaaS also functions as an adapter exchange thereby allowing vendors to transact each adapter with a user/customer through the AaaS. One or more providers/vendors may enable access to each of their adapters capabilities by requiring a financial transaction to each entity that did not buy a vendors IGA offering. A pool of multiple provider/vendors adapter assets may be provided in a searchable and comprehensive list of adapters available in the AaaS. The AaaS may function as broker that provides a platform and engine that securely links providers/vendors of adapter services and users/customers of the adapters. The AaaS may serve as a gateway for transacting access or a subscription to an adapter/connector while also providing an entity support system (“ESS”) to process and administer each transaction. 
     It is understood in advance that although this disclosure includes a detailed description on cloud computing, implementation of the teachings recited herein are not limited to a cloud computing environment. Rather, embodiments of the present invention are capable of being implemented in conjunction with any other type of computing environment now known or later developed. 
     Cloud computing is a model of service delivery for enabling convenient, on-demand network access to a shared pool of configurable computing resources (e.g. networks, network bandwidth, servers, processing, memory, storage, applications, virtual machines, and services) that can be rapidly provisioned and released with minimal management effort or interaction with a provider of the service. This cloud model may include at least five characteristics, at least three service models, and at least four deployment models. 
     Characteristics are as follows: 
     On-demand self-service: a cloud consumer can unilaterally provision computing capabilities, such as server time and network storage, as needed automatically without requiring human interaction with the service&#39;s provider. 
     Broad network access: capabilities are available over a network and accessed through standard mechanisms that promote use by heterogeneous thin or thick client platforms (e.g., mobile phones, laptops, and PDAs). 
     Resource pooling: the provider&#39;s computing resources are pooled to serve multiple consumers using a multi-tenant model, with different physical and virtual resources dynamically assigned and reassigned according to demand. There is a sense of location independence in that the consumer generally has no control or knowledge over the exact location of the provided resources but may be able to specify location at a higher level of abstraction (e.g., country, state, or datacenter). 
     Rapid elasticity: capabilities can be rapidly and elastically provisioned, in some cases automatically, to quickly scale out and rapidly released to quickly scale in. To the consumer, the capabilities available for provisioning often appear to be unlimited and can be purchased in any quantity at any time. 
     Measured service: cloud systems automatically control and optimize resource use by leveraging a metering capability at some level of abstraction appropriate to the type of service (e.g., storage, processing, bandwidth, and active user accounts). Resource usage can be monitored, controlled, and reported providing transparency for both the provider and consumer of the utilized service. 
     Service Models are as follows: 
     Software as a Service (SaaS): the capability provided to the consumer is to use the provider&#39;s applications running on a cloud infrastructure. The applications are accessible from various client devices through a thin client interface such as a web browser (e.g., web-based e-mail). The consumer does not manage or control the underlying cloud infrastructure including network, servers, operating systems, storage, or even individual application capabilities, with the possible exception of limited user-specific application configuration settings. 
     Platform as a Service (PaaS): the capability provided to the consumer is to deploy onto the cloud infrastructure consumer-created or acquired applications created using programming languages and tools supported by the provider. The consumer does not manage or control the underlying cloud infrastructure including networks, servers, operating systems, or storage, but has control over the deployed applications and possibly application hosting environment configurations. 
     Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS): the capability provided to the consumer is to provision processing, storage, networks, and other fundamental computing resources where the consumer is able to deploy and run arbitrary software, which can include operating systems and applications. The consumer does not manage or control the underlying cloud infrastructure but has control over operating systems, storage, deployed applications, and possibly limited control of select networking components (e.g., host firewalls). 
     Deployment Models are as follows: 
     Private cloud: the cloud infrastructure is operated solely for an organization. It may be managed by the organization or a third party and may exist on-premises or off-premises. 
     Community cloud: the cloud infrastructure is shared by several organizations and supports a specific community that has shared concerns (e.g., mission, security requirements, policy, and compliance considerations). It may be managed by the organizations or a third party and may exist on-premises or off-premises. 
     Public cloud: the cloud infrastructure is made available to the general public or a large industry group and is owned by an organization selling cloud services. 
     Hybrid cloud: the cloud infrastructure is a composition of two or more clouds (private, community, or public) that remain unique entities but are bound together by standardized or proprietary technology that enables data and application portability (e.g., cloud bursting for load-balancing between clouds). 
     A cloud computing environment is service oriented with a focus on statelessness, low coupling, modularity, and semantic interoperability. At the heart of cloud computing is an infrastructure comprising a network of interconnected nodes. 
     Referring now to  FIG. 1 , a schematic of an example of a cloud computing node is shown. Cloud computing node  10  is only one example of a suitable cloud computing node and is not intended to suggest any limitation as to the scope of use or functionality of embodiments of the invention described herein. Regardless, cloud computing node  10  is capable of being implemented and/or performing any of the functionality set forth hereinabove. 
     In cloud computing node  10  there is a computer system/server  12 , which is operational with numerous other general purpose or special purpose computing system environments or configurations. Examples of well-known computing systems, environments, and/or configurations that may be suitable for use with computer system/server  12  include, but are not limited to, personal computer systems, server computer systems, thin clients, thick clients, hand-held or laptop devices, multiprocessor systems, microprocessor-based systems, set top boxes, programmable consumer electronics, network PCs, minicomputer systems, mainframe computer systems, and distributed cloud computing environments that include any of the above systems or devices, and the like. 
     Computer system/server  12  may be described in the general context of computer system-executable instructions, such as program modules, being executed by a computer system. Generally, program modules may include routines, programs, objects, components, logic, data structures, and so on that perform particular tasks or implement particular abstract data types. Computer system/server  12  may be practiced in distributed cloud computing environments where tasks are performed by remote processing devices that are linked through a communications network or IoT network. In a distributed cloud computing environment, program modules may be located in both local and remote computer system storage media including memory storage devices. 
     As shown in  FIG. 1 , computer system/server  12  in cloud computing node  10  is shown in the form of a general-purpose computing device. The components of computer system/server  12  may include, but are not limited to, one or more processors or processing units  16 , a system memory  28 , and a bus  18  that couples various system components including system memory  28  to processor  16 . 
     Bus  18  represents one or more of any of several types of bus structures, including a memory bus or memory controller, a peripheral bus, an accelerated graphics port, and a processor or local bus using any of a variety of bus architectures. By way of example, and not limitation, such architectures include Industry Standard Architecture (ISA) bus, Micro Channel Architecture (MCA) bus, Enhanced ISA (EISA) bus, Video Electronics Standards Association (VESA) local bus, and Peripheral Component Interconnects (PCI) bus. 
     Computer system/server  12  typically includes a variety of computer system readable media. Such media may be any available media that is accessible by computer system/server  12 , and it includes both volatile and non-volatile media, removable and non-removable media. 
     System memory  28  can include computer system readable media in the form of volatile memory, such as random access memory (RAM)  30  and/or cache memory  32 . Computer system/server  12  may further include other removable/non-removable, volatile/non-volatile computer system storage media. By way of example only, storage system  34  can be provided for reading from and writing to a non-removable, non-volatile magnetic media (not shown and typically called a “hard drive”). Although not shown, a magnetic disk drive for reading from and writing to a removable, non-volatile magnetic disk (e.g., a “floppy disk”), and an optical disk drive for reading from or writing to a removable, non-volatile optical disk such as a CD-ROM, DVD-ROM or other optical media can be provided. In such instances, each can be connected to bus  18  by one or more data media interfaces. As will be further depicted and described below, memory  28  may include at least one program product having a set (e.g., at least one) of program modules that are configured to carry out the functions of embodiments of the invention. 
     Program/utility  40 , having a set (at least one) of program modules  42 , may be stored in memory  28  by way of example, and not limitation, as well as an operating system, one or more application programs, other program modules, and program data. Each of the operating system, one or more application programs, other program modules, and program data or some combination thereof, may include an implementation of a networking environment. Program modules  42  generally carry out the functions and/or methodologies of embodiments of the invention as described herein. 
     Computer system/server  12  may also communicate with one or more external devices  14  such as a keyboard, a pointing device, a display  24 , etc.; one or more devices that enable a user to interact with computer system/server  12 ; and/or any devices (e.g., network card, modem, etc.) that enable computer system/server  12  to communicate with one or more other computing devices. Such communication can occur via Input/Output (I/O) interfaces  22 . Still yet, computer system/server  12  can communicate with one or more networks such as a local area network (LAN), a general wide area network (WAN), an IoT network, and/or a public network (e.g., the Internet) via network adapter  20 . As depicted, network adapter  20  communicates with the other components of computer system/server  12  via bus  18 . It should be understood that although not shown, other hardware and/or software components could be used in conjunction with computer system/server  12 . Examples, include, but are not limited to: microcode, device drivers, redundant processing units, external disk drive arrays, RAID systems, tape drives, and data archival storage systems, etc. 
     Referring now to  FIG. 2 , illustrative cloud computing environment  50  is depicted. As shown, cloud computing environment  50  comprises one or more cloud computing nodes  10  with which local computing devices used by cloud consumers, such as, for example, personal digital assistant (PDA) or cellular telephone  54 A, desktop computer  54 B, laptop computer  54 C, and/or automobile computer system  54 N may communicate. Nodes  10  may communicate with one another. They may be grouped (not shown) physically or virtually, in one or more networks, such as Private, Community, Public, or Hybrid clouds as described hereinabove, or a combination thereof. This allows cloud computing environment  50  to offer infrastructure, platforms and/or software as services for which a cloud consumer does not need to maintain resources on a local computing device. It is understood that the types of computing devices  54 A-N shown in  FIG. 2  are intended to be illustrative only and that computing nodes  10  and cloud computing environment  50  can communicate with any type of computerized device over any type of network and/or network addressable connection (e.g., using a web browser). 
     Referring now to  FIG. 3 , a set of functional abstraction layers provided by cloud computing environment  50  ( FIG. 2 ) is shown. It should be understood in advance that the components, layers, and functions shown in  FIG. 3  are intended to be illustrative only and embodiments of the invention are not limited thereto. As depicted, the following layers and corresponding functions are provided: 
     Device layer  55  includes physical and/or virtual devices, embedded with and/or standalone electronics, sensors, actuators, and other objects to perform various tasks in a cloud computing environment  50 . Each of the devices in the device layer  55  incorporates networking capability to other functional abstraction layers such that information obtained from the devices may be provided thereto, and/or information from the other abstraction layers may be provided to the devices. In one embodiment, the various devices inclusive of the device layer  55  may incorporate a network of entities collectively known as the “internet of things” (IoT). Such a network of entities allows for intercommunication, collection, and dissemination of data to accomplish a great variety of purposes, as one of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate. 
     Device layer  55  as shown includes sensor  52 , actuator  53 , “learning” thermostat  56  with integrated processing, sensor, and networking electronics, camera  57 , controllable household outlet/receptacle  58 , and controllable electrical switch  59  as shown. Other possible devices may include, but are not limited to various additional sensor devices, networking devices, electronics devices (such as a remote control device), additional actuator devices, so called “smart” appliances such as a refrigerator or washer/dryer, and a wide variety of other possible interconnected objects. 
     Hardware and software layer  60  includes hardware and software components. Examples of hardware components include: mainframes  61 ; RISC (Reduced Instruction Set Computer) architecture based servers  62 ; servers  63 ; blade servers  64 ; storage devices  65 ; and networks and networking components  66 . In some embodiments, software components include network application server software  67  and database software  68 . 
     Virtualization layer  70  provides an abstraction layer from which the following examples of virtual entities may be provided: virtual servers  71 ; virtual storage  72 ; virtual networks  73 , including virtual private networks; virtual applications and operating systems  74 ; and virtual clients  75 . 
     In one example, management layer  80  may provide the functions described below. Resource provisioning  81  provides dynamic procurement of computing resources and other resources that are utilized to perform tasks within the cloud computing environment. Metering and Pricing  82  provides cost tracking as resources are utilized within the cloud computing environment, and billing or invoicing for consumption of these resources. In one example, these resources may comprise application software licenses. Security provides identity verification for cloud consumers and tasks, as well as protection for data and other resources. User portal  83  provides access to the cloud computing environment for consumers and system administrators. Service level management  84  provides cloud computing resource allocation and management such that required service levels are met. Service Level Agreement (SLA) planning and fulfillment  85  provides pre-arrangement for, and procurement of, cloud computing resources for which a future requirement is anticipated in accordance with an SLA. 
     Workloads layer  90  provides examples of functionality for which the cloud computing environment may be utilized. Examples of workloads and functions which may be provided from this layer include: mapping and navigation  91 ; software development and lifecycle management  92 ; virtual classroom education delivery  93 ; data analytics processing  94 ; transaction processing  95 ; and, in the context of the illustrated embodiments of the present invention, various workloads and functions  96  for providing and managing an AaaS. In addition, the workloads and functions  96  for providing and managing the AaaS may include such operations as data analysis, regulatory compliance analysis, identity and security management, and/or data analytics functions. One of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the workloads and functions  96  for providing and managing the AaaS may also work in conjunction with other portions of the various abstractions layers, such as those in hardware and software  60 , virtualization  70 , management  80 , and other workloads  90  (such as data analytics processing  94 , for example) to accomplish the various purposes of the illustrated embodiments of the present invention. 
     Turning now to  FIG. 4 , a block diagram depicting exemplary functional components  400  according to various mechanisms of the illustrated embodiments is shown. In one aspect, one or more of the components, modules, services, applications, and/or functions described in  FIGS. 1-3  may be used in  FIG. 4 . An Adapter as a Service (“AaaS”)  410  is shown, incorporating processing unit  420  (“processor”) to perform various computational, data processing and other functionality in accordance with various aspects of the present invention. In one aspect, the processor  420  and memory  430  may be internal and/or external to the AaaS  410 , and internal and/or external to the computing system/server  12 . The AaaS  410  may be included in computer system/server  12 , as described in  FIG. 1 . 
     The processing unit  420  may be in communication with the memory  430 . The AaaS  410  may include a register component  440 , a publisher-subscription repository component  450 , an application programming interface (“API”) component  460 , and an adapter (or connector) component  470 . 
     As one of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate, the depiction of the various functional units in AaaS  410  is for purposes of illustration, as the functional units may be located within the AaaS  410  or elsewhere within and/or between distributed computing components. 
     In operation, the register component  440  may register each of the various types of adapters provided by the one or more providers with the AaaS. The register component  440  may approve and publish each of the types of adapters provided by each of the providers with the AaaS  410  in the publisher-subscription repository component  450  (which may function as a database or “registry”). 
     The publisher-subscription repository component  450  may enable each users to search a list of each of the types of adapters registered with the AaaS  410 . The publisher-subscription repository component  450  may subscribe the one or more users to a configuration of one of the various types of adapters registered with the AaaS  410 . 
     The adapter component  470 , in association with the API component  460 , may provide accesses to one or more identity and access management (IAM) systems via the AaaS  410  functioning as an exchange service between one or more users and one or more providers of adapters registered in the publisher-subscription repository  450 . Each of adapters in the AaaS  410  may enable provisioning and de-provisioning to one or more of the IAM systems. 
     The adapter component  470 , in association with the API component  460 , may switch the one or more users from a registration to a configuration of one of the plurality of types of adapters registered with the AaaS provided by a first provider to an alternative configuration of an alternative of the plurality of types of adapters registered with the AaaS provided by an alternative provider. 
     The adapter component  470 , in association with the API component  460 , may link the one or more users with one of the types of adapters registered with the AaaS. In one aspect, the various types of adapters may serve as a gateway for transactions, transactions exchanges, support, access to an application, or a combination thereof with one or more applications associated with the plurality of IAM systems. 
     Turning now to  FIG. 5 , a block diagram depicting exemplary functional components  400  for providing and managing an adapter as a service (AaaS) brokering service. In one aspect, one or more of the components, modules, services, applications, and/or functions described in  FIGS. 1-5  may be used in  FIG. 6 . Repetitive description of like elements employed in other embodiments described herein (e.g.,  FIGS. 1-5 ) is omitted for sake of brevity. 
     As illustrated, the Adapter as a Service (“AaaS”)  510  (e.g., see also the AaaS  410  of  FIG. 5 ) is shown, incorporating one or more registered adapters  560  (e.g., connectors) such as, for example, provider-adapters  560 A-N. The provider-adapters  560 A-N each have been registered with the AaaS  510  and published in the subscription repository  540 . The provider-adapters  560 A-N may be provider/vendor specific to enable one or more users/customers  520  such as, for example, customers  520 A- 520 C (e.g., identity manager “ITIM” customer  520 A, IGA customer  520 B, and/or IDM customer  520 C) to connect and/or gain access to one or more computing applications  550  such as, for example, applications  550 A- 550 H. 
     It should be noted that as used in  FIG. 5 , by way of example only, application  550 A and  550 B may be the same application (e.g., “application  1 ”) and provided by the same source (e.g., an internet search engine), application  550 C and  550 D may be the same application (e.g., “application  2 ”) provided by the same source, application  550 E and  550 F may be the same application (e.g., “application  3 ”) provided by the same source. 
     Thus, in operation, the AaaS  510  provides a wide range of adapters  560  such as, for example, provider-adapters  560 A-N that can provision and de-provision user accounts such as, for example, customers  520 A- 520 C across different applications, servers and user repositories upon receiving one or more API calls to an API engine  530 , which may be associated with the subscription repository  540  and each adapter  560  such as, for example, provider-adapters  560 A-N. 
     In one aspect, each customer  520 A- 520  may subscribe to the AaaS  510  and select the applications  550  (or services) such as, for example, applications  550 A- 550 H based on a particular requirement. For example, customer  520 A (“customer A”) may have an IAM platform that requires an adapter to application  550 A-B (application  1 ),  550 E-F (e.g., application  3 ), and  550 H (e.g., application  5 ). More specifically, since there are multiple providers vendors offering different adapters to the same applications, the AaaS  510  may enable the customer (e.g., customer  520 A) to select one or more of the registered adapters. Thus, as depicted, the AaaS  510  may act as a broker service and configure the provider-adapters  560 A and/or B,  560 D, and/or  560 N for customer  520 A (“customer A”) to gain access to applications  550 A (e.g., application  1 ),  550 E (e.g., application  3 ), and  550 H (e.g., application  5 ). 
     Alternatively, customer  520 B (“customer B”) requires adapter to applications  550 A-B (e.g., application  1 ),  550 C-D (e.g., application  2 ), and  550 E-F (e.g., application  3 ). More specifically, since there are multiple providers vendors offering different adapters to the same applications, the AaaS  510  may enable the customer (e.g., customer  520 B) to select one or more of the registered adapters. Thus, as depicted, the AaaS  510  may act as a broker service and configure provider-adapters  560 A and/or B,  560 C, and/or  560 D for customer  520 B to gain access to applications  550 A-B (e.g., application  1 ),  550 C-D (e.g., application  2 ), and  550 E-F (e.g., application  3 ). 
     In an additional aspect, customer  520 C (“customer C”) requires an adapter to applications  550 C and/or D and applications  550 G. More specifically, since there are multiple providers vendors offering different adapters to the same applications, the AaaS  510  may enable the customer (e.g., customer  520 C) to select one or more of the registered adapters. Thus, as depicted, the AaaS  510  may act as a broker service and configure provider-adapters  560 C and  560 E for customer  520 C (“customer C”) to gain access to applications  550 C-D (e.g., application  2 ) and applications  550 G (e.g., application  4 ). 
     However, when another provider/vender develops, enhances, registers, and/or publishes an alternative, and perhaps more robust adapter for one or more of the applications, the AaaS  510  may enable one or more of the customers  520 A- 520 C to switch adapters without any additional down time and no additional customization. For example, assume application  550 A is the same application as application  550 B in  FIG. 5 . However, a first vendor provides their adapter (e.g., provider-adapter  560 A) to connect to application  550 A and an alternative vendor provides their adapter (e.g., provider-adapter  560 B) to connect to application  550 B (which is the same as application  550 A). Thus, the AaaS  510  may act as a broker service and switch configurations from provider-adapters  560 A (connected to application  550 A) to provider-adapter  560 B (connected to application  550 B) for providing uninterrupted access/connectivity with a particular application. Thus, the customers can switch IAM platforms with very minimal effort using the underlying service. 
     Turning now to  FIG. 6 , block diagram of exemplary functionality  600  relating to providing and managing an adapter as a service (“AaaS”) is depicted according to various aspects of the present invention. As shown, the various blocks of functionality are depicted with arrows designating the blocks&#39;  600  relationships with each other and to show process flow or “actions steps” (“steps”). Additionally, descriptive information is also seen relating each of the functional blocks  500 . As will be seen, many of the functional blocks may also be considered “modules” of functionality, in the same descriptive sense as has been previously described in  FIG. 1-5 . In one aspect, one or more of the components, modules, services, applications, and/or functions described in  FIGS. 1-5  may be used in  FIG. 6 . Repetitive description of like elements employed in other embodiments described herein (e.g.,  FIGS. 1-5 ) is omitted for sake of brevity. 
     With the foregoing in mind, the module blocks  600  may also be incorporated into various hardware and software components of a system for image enhancement in accordance with the present invention. Many of the functional blocks  600  may execute as action steps and/or background processes on various components, either in distributed computing components, or on the user device, or elsewhere. 
     Starting in action step  1  (from a perspective of a provider/vendor of an adapter/connector), a publisher  620  (e.g., provider/vendor) may submit an adapter registration (e.g., a request to register an adapter/connector) with the AaaS  610 . The AaaS  610  may review and approve (or reject) the registration application, as in action step  2 . The AaaS  610  may publish the adapter provided by the publisher  620 , as in block action step  3 . The AaaS  610  may register and store the published adapter/connector with a publisher-subscription repository  640  (which may be included internally in (or externally to) the AaaS  610 , as in block action steps  4  and  5 . 
     Turning now to the perspective from a user/customer, a consumer  630  may access and browse/search a list of registered adapters (e.g., an adapter catalogue) provided by the publisher-subscription repository  640 , as in action steps  7  and  8 . The AaaS  610  may subscribe the consumer  630  with a configuration of one or more registered adapters such as, for example, adapter  1 ,  650 A or adapter n,  650 N, as in action steps  9  and  10 . The AaaS  610  may configure one or more of the adapters (e.g., adapter  1 ,  650 A or adapter n,  650 N) for the subscribed consumer  630 , as in action step  11 . Using an API  642  of the AaaS  610 , the consumer  630  may access the one or more of the adapters (e.g., adapter  1 ,  650 A or adapter n,  650 N) to gain access to one or more consumer applications  660  (e.g., consumer applications  660 A or  660 B), as in action steps  12  and  13 . For example, the consumer  630 , via the API  642 , may gain access to application  660 A using adapter  1 ,  650 A and/or gain access to application  660 B using adapter  1 ,  650 B, as in action steps  6  and  14 . 
     Turning now to  FIG. 7 , a method  700  for providing and managing an adapter as a service (AaaS) in a computing environment is depicted. In one aspect, each of the devices, components, modules, operations, and/or functions described in  FIGS. 1-6  also may apply or perform one or more operations or actions of  FIG. 7 . The functionality  700  may be implemented as a method executed as instructions on a machine, where the instructions are included on at least one computer readable medium or one non-transitory machine-readable storage medium. The functionality  700  may start in block  702 . 
     One or more types of adapters provided different providers may be registered with the AaaS, as in block  704 . One or more users may be subscribed to a configuration to one or more of the adapters provided by different providers, as in block  706 . Access to one or more of a plurality of identity and access management (TAM) systems may be provided via an adapter as a service (AaaS) functioning as an exchange service between one or more users and one or more providers of a plurality of types of adapters, as in block  708 . The plurality of types of adapters in the AaaS enable provisioning and de-provisioning to one or more of the plurality of TAM systems. The functionality  700  may end, as in block  710 . 
     Also, one or more solutions may be provided for an IoT network, comprising one or more IoT devices, identified as having performance obligation deficiencies according to a knowledge domain describing performance obligations for the IoT network. 
     In one aspect, in conjunction with and/or as part of at least one block of  FIG. 7 , the operations of  700  may include each of the following. The operations of  700  may approve and publish each of the plurality of types of adapters provided by the one or more providers with the AaaS. The operations of  700  may enable the one or more users to search a list of each of the plurality of types of adapters registered with the AaaS. The operations of  700  may switch the one or more users from a registration to a configuration of one of the plurality of types of adapters registered with the AaaS provided by a first provider to an alternative configuration of an alternative of the plurality of types of adapters registered with the AaaS provided by an alternative provider. The operations of  700  may link, via the AaaS, the one or more users with one of the plurality of types of adapters registered with the AaaS. The various types of adapters may serve as a gateway for transactions, transactions exchanges, support, access to an application, or a combination thereof with one or more applications associated with the plurality of IAM systems. 
     The present invention may be a system, a method, and/or a computer program product. The computer program product may include a computer readable storage medium (or media) having computer readable program instructions thereon for causing a processor to carry out aspects of the present invention. 
     The computer readable storage medium can be a tangible device that can retain and store instructions for use by an instruction execution device. The computer readable storage medium may be, for example, but is not limited to, an electronic storage device, a magnetic storage device, an optical storage device, an electromagnetic storage device, a semiconductor storage device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing. A non-exhaustive list of more specific examples of the computer readable storage medium includes the following: a portable computer diskette, a hard disk, a random access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or Flash memory), a static random access memory (SRAM), a portable compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), a digital versatile disk (DVD), a memory stick, a floppy disk, a mechanically encoded device such as punch-cards or raised structures in a groove having instructions recorded thereon, and any suitable combination of the foregoing. A computer readable storage medium, as used herein, is not to be construed as being transitory signals per se, such as radio waves or other freely propagating electromagnetic waves, electromagnetic waves propagating through a waveguide or other transmission media (e.g., light pulses passing through a fiber-optic cable), or electrical signals transmitted through a wire. 
     Computer readable program instructions described herein can be downloaded to respective computing/processing devices from a computer readable storage medium or to an external computer or external storage device via a network, for example, the Internet, a local area network, a wide area network and/or a wireless network. The network may comprise copper transmission cables, optical transmission fibers, wireless transmission, routers, firewalls, switches, gateway computers and/or edge servers. A network adapter card or network interface in each computing/processing device receives computer readable program instructions from the network and forwards the computer readable program instructions for storage in a computer readable storage medium within the respective computing/processing device. 
     Computer readable program instructions for carrying out operations of the present invention may be assembler instructions, instruction-set-architecture (ISA) instructions, machine instructions, machine dependent instructions, microcode, firmware instructions, state-setting data, or either source code or object code written in any combination of one or more programming languages, including an object oriented programming language such as Smalltalk, C++ or the like, and conventional procedural programming languages, such as the “C” programming language or similar programming languages. The computer readable program instructions may execute entirely on the user&#39;s computer, partly on the user&#39;s computer, as a stand-alone software package, partly on the user&#39;s computer and partly on a remote computer or entirely on the remote computer or server. In the latter scenario, the remote computer may be connected to the user&#39;s computer through any type of network, including a local area network (LAN) or a wide area network (WAN), or the connection may be made to an external computer (for example, through the Internet using an Internet Service Provider). In some embodiments, electronic circuitry including, for example, programmable logic circuitry, field-programmable gate arrays (FPGA), or programmable logic arrays (PLA) may execute the computer readable program instructions by utilizing state information of the computer readable program instructions to personalize the electronic circuitry, in order to perform aspects of the present invention. 
     Aspects of the present invention are described herein with reference to flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams of methods, apparatus (systems), and computer program products according to embodiments of the invention. It will be understood that each block of the flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, and combinations of blocks in the flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, can be implemented by computer readable program instructions. 
     These computer readable program instructions may be provided to a processor of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, or other programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine, such that the instructions, which execute via the processor of the computer or other programmable data processing apparatus, create means for implementing the functions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks. These computer readable program instructions may also be stored in a computer readable storage medium that can direct a computer, a programmable data processing apparatus, and/or other devices to function in a particular manner, such that the computer readable storage medium having instructions stored therein comprises an article of manufacture including instructions which implement aspects of the function/act specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks. 
     The computer readable program instructions may also be loaded onto a computer, other programmable data processing apparatus, or other device to cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer, other programmable apparatus or other device to produce a computer implemented process, such that the instructions which execute on the computer, other programmable apparatus, or other device implement the functions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks. 
     The flowchart and block diagrams in the Figures illustrate the architecture, functionality, and operation of possible implementations of systems, methods, and computer program products according to various embodiments of the present invention. In this regard, each block in the flowchart or block diagrams may represent a module, segment, or portion of instructions, which comprises one or more executable instructions for implementing the specified logical function(s). In some alternative implementations, the functions noted in the block may occur out of the order noted in the figures. For example, two blocks shown in succession may, in fact, be executed substantially concurrently, or the blocks may sometimes be executed in the reverse order, depending upon the functionality involved. It will also be noted that each block of the block diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, and combinations of blocks in the block diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, can be implemented by special purpose hardware-based systems that perform the specified functions or acts or carry out combinations of special purpose hardware and computer instructions.