Patent ID: 8213032

Claim:
An information processing apparatus that executes a part of cooperative processing in a system which provides cooperative processing using a plurality of information processing apparatuses, based on a job ticket in which contents of a plurality of processes, an order of processes, and an information processing apparatus which executes each process are described, the information processing apparatus comprising: a receiving unit configured to receive the job ticket and data that are a target of cooperative processing; a processing unit configured to process the data using functions included in the information processing apparatus based on the job ticket; a storing unit configured to store processed data processed by the processing unit when a process is normally completed by the processing unit; a transmission unit configured to transmit the job ticket and the processed data to an external apparatus which performs a subsequent process of the information processing apparatus designated by the job ticket; an updating unit configured to update, if it is determined that the subsequent process failed in the external apparatus which performs the process subsequent to the information processing apparatus designated by the job ticket, a description on contents of the plurality of processes, the order of processes, and the information processing apparatus which executes each process in the job ticket, to realize cooperative processing described in the job ticket; and a first search unit configured to search the system for a substitute apparatus including a function for executing the subsequent process that failed, wherein the updating unit updates the job ticket not to include the external apparatus that failed the process, wherein the updating unit updates, if the function included in the substitute apparatus searched for by the first searching unit can interpret a data format of the processed data, the description in the job ticket to include the substitute apparatus, and wherein the transmission unit transmits to the substitute apparatus the job ticket updated by the updated unit and the processed data.