Patent ID: 8412561

Claim:
A method for evaluating a business case for a proposed design module in an existing chromatographic network model having network functionality, the method comprising: receiving a proposed design model input by a user input via a computer interface, wherein the proposed design model is to provide one or more new network-based services in an existing chromatographic network model having a plurality of network layers; identifying, from the user input via the computer interface, a current network layer in the existing chromatographic network model where the proposed design model is to be implemented, wherein a first entity controls the current network layer; receiving, from the user input via the computer interface, one or more first potential benefit attributes and one or more first potential cost attributes which affect the existing chromatographic network model as a result of implementing the proposed design model in the current network layer; storing the one or more first proposed benefit attributes and the one or more first proposed cost attributes in a computer memory; identifying, from the user input via the computer interface, at least one in a set of preceding network layers and at least one in a set of succeeding network layers with respect to the current network layer, wherein the at least one of the preceding network layers is controlled by a second entity separate from the first entity and wherein the at least one of the succeeding network layers is controlled by a third entity separate from the first entity; assigning, using one or more processors, one or more second potential benefit attributes and one or more second potential cost attributes which correspondingly affect the at least one identified preceding network layer or the at least one identified succeeding network layer as a result of implementing the proposed design model in the current network layer; storing the one or more second potential benefit attributes and the one or more second potential cost attributes in the computer memory; and evaluating, using one or more processors, the stored first and second proposed benefit attributes and the stored first and second potential cost to determine an end to end business case for accepting or rejecting implementation of the proposed design model in one or more network layers of the existing chromatographic model.