Patent ID: 8150871

Claim:
A method of retrieving operational data, the method comprising: at a front-end unit, generating a query for retrieving requested operational data, including real-time operational data, the query identifying the requested operational data to be retrieved; responsive to said generating, sending an operational information provider from the front-end unit to the back-end unit, wherein the operational information provider is a Web Service Description Language (WSDL) document which includes the query and retrieves from the back-end unit the requested real-time operational data via a retrieval method included in the operational information provider that specifies data request and data response operations, including to be performed by the back-end unit, and wherein the real-time operational data is identified by a data description included in the operational information provider; responsive to receiving the data request and response operations at the back-end unit, executing at least one business operation at the back-end unit, wherein the at least one business operation performs analysis and data mining operations to generate the requested operational data; and receiving at the front-end unit from the back-end unit the requested operational data, including the real-time operational data.