Patent ID: 8279874

Claim:
A computer-implemented method for building a self-configuring network, the method comprising: generating a command to provision connecting devices in a network with a network resource; associating the command with a management event in advance of the occurrence of the management event, the management event not detected in the connecting device, the management event occurring in a network management system for managing policy for the network and indicating that a network management policy represented in the command is to be deployed from the network management system to the network; generating a deployment target to which the command can be deployed from the network management system to the network, the deployment target comprising connecting devices in a pre-defined group based on at least one criteria, the at least one criteria including connecting devices that support Internet Protocol (IP) telephony services in the network, or connecting devices that support a Virtual Local Area Network, the connecting devices being selectable through a network management system; deploying the command from the network management system to a selected deployment target upon the occurrence in the network management system for managing policy for the network of the management event with which the command was previously associated; setting a network event in the selected deployment target to match the management event for which the command was deployed, and associating the deployed command with the network event, the network event being detectable in the connecting device in the selected deployment target; and automatically provisioning the connecting device with the network resource upon the occurrence of the network event with which the command is associated, the connecting device being in the pre-defined group to which the command has been deployed.