Patent ID: 6990520

Claim:
A system for managing a networked complex, the system comprising: a discovery and monitoring subsystem for determining an operational model of a networked complex; a reference model transcription subsystem coupled to the discovery and monitoring subsystem and the reference model store subsystem, wherein the reference model transcription subsystem provides a reference model of the complex; a reference model store subsystem for storing one or more reference models; a reference model generation subsystem coupled to the reference model store subsystem, wherein the reference model generation subsystem modifies the reference model via inputs from an administrative client; a model comparator subsystem coupled to the discovery and monitoring subsystem and the reference model store subsystem, wherein the model comparator subsystem compares the operational model and the reference model and provides a composite model; a reference model update subsystem coupled to the model comparator subsystem and the reference model store subsystem, wherein the reference model update subsystem allows the administrative client to select one or more features of an operational model to incorporate within the reference model; a nonconformance visualization subsystem coupled to the model comparator subsystem, wherein the nonconformance visualization subsystem provides a visual display of the composite model; a conformance monitoring subsystem coupled to the model comparator subsystem, wherein the conformance monitoring subsystem provides a predetermined action if the composite model indicates that the operational model does not conform with the reference model; a change procedure generator subsystem coupled to the reference model store subsystem, wherein the change procedure generator subsystem provides a procedure comprising one or more changes required to transform a networked complex as represented by an antecedent reference model into a networked complex as represented by a proposed reference model; and a change automation subsystem coupled to the discovery and monitoring subsystem and the reference model store subsystem, wherein the change automation subsystem implements the one or more changes required to transform a networked complex as represented by the operational model into the complex as represented by the proposed reference model.