Patent ID: 7765436

Claim:
A method for estimating resource requirements of a software code comprising: providing a schema for characterizing received given problem/resolution reports according to a plurality of attributes, wherein each attribute specifies a plurality of values and an attribute characteristic represented by each value, wherein said attributes include a problem category attribute specifying a plurality of problem values, each representing an occurrence of given specific kind of problem, and a problem resolution category attribute specifying a plurality of problem resolution values, each representing an occurrence of a given specific kind of problem resolution; receiving a plurality of said given problem/resolution reports, each of said given problem/resolution reports having an informational content relating to a given problem relating to a given product, and wherein each of said given problem/resolution report has an associated report time; applying said schema to the informational content of each of said given problem/resolution reports to generate a corresponding plurality of categorized problem/resolution reports, wherein said generating includes setting at least one of said problem attribute value or said problem resolution attribute value for each of said categorized problem/resolution reports; generating a time series of attribute-specific probability distributions for each of a plurality of said attributes, based on said plurality of categorized problem/resolution reports, wherein said generating includes grouping said plurality of categorized problem reports according to a sequence of time intervals, said arranging based on said reports' associated report time in relation to the times represented by said time intervals, and calculating for each of said time intervals an attribute-specific distribution function having a plurality of bins, each bin corresponding to one of said attribute values and, for each bin, a probability of the categorized problem/resolution reports arranged within said time interval having the attribute value of the bin; generating an estimate of a most likely sequence of skill level of users of said product, said generating including forming a Hidden Markov Model based on said generated time series of attribute-specific probability distributions for at least one of said attributes, wherein said skill level is a hidden state of said Hidden Markov Model, and wherein said generating includes a tracing a sequence of most likely states of said skill level based on said time series of attribute-specific probability distributions; generating a time series estimate of future problems relating to said product, based on said formed Hidden Markov Model; generating an estimated required, customer support resource allocation, data, based on said generated time series estimate of future problems; and outputting said generated estimated required customer support resource allocation data.