JP2004258824A - Service mediation method and device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a service mediation method and device which easily construct a portal site for outsourcing task services to a plurality of enterprises by using the information of occupational ranks/occupational categories of employees managed in each enterprise, in a service system in which a plurality of service providing servers are connected through a network to a service using terminal. <P>SOLUTION: When a service request from a service utilization terminal is detected, a portal parts processing part 1110 acquires the personnel information of a pertinent employee from an intra-enterprise information data base 1120, and edits input/output data to/from a service cooperation processing part 1130. The service cooperation processing part selects a service providing server for providing a proper task service by comparing the contents of the service request with a service provision condition in the provision service information table, and combines and carries out those services. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO&NCIPI

Description

[0001]
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a service mediation method in a service system realized by a plurality of information processing devices such as a workstation, a personal computer, a handheld computer, and a mobile phone.
[0002]
[Prior art]
2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, EIP (Enterprise Information Portal) technology has been attracting attention in order to efficiently utilize enormous resources scattered in a company or on the Internet. In the EIP, a Web site accessible from one window (portal) to various business systems in a company can be easily realized by freely combining program components called portlets (prior art 1).
[0003]
On the other hand, an attempt to outsource a part of business services in a company to a specialized company by using the above-described EIP technology or the like is beginning to be started. According to the technology described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2001-318998, a virtual mall consisting of branches of specialized consulting and outsourcing companies is created, and a system site serving as a basis for the virtual mall is provided on the Internet to provide accounting, personnel, Outsourcing of tax and legal affairs, etc., can improve organizational efficiency, and can centrally manage and monitor their processing collectively (Prior Art 2).
[0004]
[Patent Document 1]
JP 2001-318998 A
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
The prior art 1 provides an environment in which an enormous amount of resources inside and outside a company can be efficiently accessed, and the prior art 2 provides a mechanism that enables outsourcing of a part of business services in a company.
[0006]
On the other hand, when trying to build a portal site that can access various tasks in a company, a task customizing function according to the type of job, position, etc. of each employee to use is important. For example, it is conceivable that the approval processing of the travel expense application can be used only by the manager, or the search function of the customer information is provided only to the sales department. In order to realize these customization functions, information on the occupations and positions of each employee is indispensable, but since this information is usually managed by the system within each company, data is stored in the database on the portal site. It is difficult to migrate data or refer to data directly from each company system because of privacy and security issues. Further, even if the information can be acquired, the functions available for each position and the range of information that can be referred to differ from company to company. For example, even in the case of the same section manager, company A has authority to approve a travel expense application, but company B may not have authority. For this reason, in a portal site that outsources business services to multiple companies, instead of simply customizing according to titles, management of the provided functions and permissions in detail according to the rules of each company A possible mechanism is essential.
[0007]
That is, in the above-described conventional technology 1, when a portal site is built in the own company, an access right is set for each portlet by referring to an employee information database or the like existing in the intranet, or depending on the user. It is possible to change the portlets provided. However, when constructing a portal site for a plurality of companies, there is a problem that it is difficult to realize the customization process because the authority given to the same position differs depending on each company. On the other hand, in the prior art 2, since it is difficult to directly refer to the employee information and the like held in each company from the portal site constructed on the Internet due to security problems, the business to be provided is difficult. There was a problem that information required to customize a service according to a user could not be obtained.
[0008]
An object of the present invention is to provide a service mediation method capable of constructing a portal site capable of outsourcing business services to a plurality of companies while utilizing basic information and organization information of employees managed by each company independently. It is to provide a device.
[0009]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
The present invention provides an in-company portal server that connects to an intranet built in each company and receives service requests from a plurality of service using terminals.
An integrated service server that connects to the Internet and selects an appropriate service from a plurality of service providing servers.
[0010]
Further, the present invention provides a service customizing process,
A first processing step for acquiring personnel information in each company necessary for customizing the provided service;
A second processing step for customizing a service to be provided based on the personnel information acquired in the first processing step.
[0011]
Alternatively, according to the present invention, when customizing a service,
A first processing step for acquiring personnel information in each company necessary for customizing the provided service;
A second processing step for associating the position / occupation information in each company obtained in the first processing step with the service customization method;
And a third processing step for customizing a service to be provided based on the customization information specified in the second processing step.
[0012]
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, two embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
[0013]
First, a first embodiment will be described. In the present embodiment, a method will be described in which customization of business services according to job titles and job types is realized on an in-company portal server connected to an intranet built in each company.
[0014]
FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating the system configuration of the present embodiment. Reference numerals 1010 to 1040 denote information processing devices such as workstations and personal computers. In particular, the service use terminal 1010 may be configured using a portable information processing device such as a handheld computer or a mobile phone. These plurality of information processing apparatuses are connected via networks 1050 to 1070 constructed by wire, wireless, or a mixture thereof. The in-company portal server 1020 is installed in each company that uses the outsourcing service, and is connected to a plurality of service use terminals 1010 used by each employee belonging to the company via an intranet 1050. The integrated service server 1030 is installed in each community that operates an outsourcing service brokerage business, and is connected via the Internet 1070 to a service providing server 1040 installed by a plurality of specialized companies that provide various business services. The integrated service server 1030 is also connected to a plurality of in-company portal servers 1020 via a router 1080 for each company, and provides an outsourcing service to a plurality of companies.
[0015]
The service use terminal 1010 used by employees of each company includes a service use application 1090 for using various business services. The in-company portal server 1020 installed for each company using the outsourcing service includes portal site base software 1100 that provides basic functions for building a portal site, and a plurality of portals that are program components that operate on the portal site base software. The component processing unit 1110 includes an in-company information database 1120 that holds personnel information in the company such as the position / occupation type and organization information of the employees to which the company belongs. An integrated service server 1030 installed for each community that mediates outsourcing services includes a service cooperation processing unit 1130 that executes a single or a plurality of business services in cooperation with each other, and a contract that holds information on contract services available to each company. An information table 1140 includes a provided service information table 1150 that holds information on addresses and restrictions on business services provided by each specialized company. The service providing server 1040 installed by each specialized company includes a service providing application 1160 that provides various business services.
[0016]
In this configuration, for example, the service use application 1090 is configured by a Web browser, the portal site base software 1100 is configured by Web server software, and the portal component processing unit 1110 is configured by a CGI (Common Gateway Interface) program that operates on the Web server software. Thus, the present invention can be easily realized using a known software development method.
[0017]
Next, a processing example of the portal component processing unit 1110 in FIG. 1 will be described with reference to the flowchart in FIG. First, upon detecting a program termination instruction by an input or the like from the administrator of the in-company portal server 1020 (step 2010), the processing of the portal component processing unit is terminated. When a service request from the service use application 1090 is detected (step 2020), the employee who is accessing is determined from the information such as the login ID of the portal site, and the position and occupation information of the employee is determined from the in-company information database 1120. Is obtained (step 2030). Next, the service request is edited using the acquired information (step 2040). As the editing contents, for example, processing is performed to supplement the employee number and the like necessary for the application procedure, and to convert abbreviations used only within the company into general terms. Next, a service request is transmitted to the service cooperation processing unit 1130 to request service execution, and a response is received (step 2050). When the service response is received, the service response is edited using the information acquired in step 2030 (step 2060). As the editing contents, for example, a management job menu is preferentially displayed to an employee of a managerial position, a job menu according to the job type is added, and a process of filtering the notification information according to the job type is performed. Alternatively, employees with a certain level or higher can use the automatic summarization function to generate an executive summary or perform a process of machine translation from English to Japanese. After the editing processing, the service response is output to the service using application 1010 of the request source (step 2070).
[0018]
Subsequently, a processing example of the service cooperation processing unit 1130 in FIG. 1 will be described with reference to the flowchart in FIG. First, upon detecting a program end instruction by an input or the like from the administrator of the integrated service server 1030 (step 3010), the processing of the portal component processing unit ends. When a service menu request from the portal component processing unit 1110 is detected (step 3020), the contract information table 1140 is read, and a list of contract services available according to the accessing company is acquired (step 3030). The acquired service list is edited as a service menu screen, and output to the requesting portal component processing unit (step 3040).
[0019]
FIG. 4 shows a configuration example of the contract information table 1140. The contract information table 4000 includes a use source 4010 indicating a company to be an access source, a contract service 4020 indicating a service for which the company has made a contract with the integrated service server, and a service type 4030 indicating a configuration service necessary for executing the contract service. Here is a list of lines consisting of This table defines a list of contracted outsourcing services available for each company.
[0020]
On the other hand, when a service execution request from the portal component processing unit 1110 is detected (step 3050), the contract information table 1140 is read, and a list of configuration services necessary for executing the requested contract service is obtained (step 3060). Next, the provision service information table 1150 is read, and the service request content in the service request is compared with the provision condition of each service to determine an appropriate combination of services (step 3070). Thereafter, the selected services are sequentially executed, and the execution results are output to the requesting portal component processing unit (step 3080).
[0021]
FIG. 4 shows a configuration example of the provided service information table 1150. The provided service information table 5000 includes a service type 5010 indicating a type of business service provided by each specialized company, a service address 5020 indicating an address of a service providing server, a service providing condition 5030 indicating a constraint condition of a provided service, and a service call. It is a list of lines consisting of a service interface 5040 showing the method. This table defines information required to execute each business service.
[0022]
As described above, in the above-described embodiment, an example has been described in which the position and job type information of each employee is used as the information used to customize the service. However, information used for customization is not limited to this, and various types of information stored in a database in each company can be used. For example, services with a high usage rate are displayed with higher priority using service usage history and preference information, etc., and input to the screen is performed using attribute information such as the screen size of the service using terminal and the type of input device. The screen design may be switched to an easy-to-use one by switching the method or output size, or by using personal information such as gender or the presence or absence of a handicap.
[0023]
Further, in the present embodiment, an example in which screen input / output data is customized as a service customizing process realized on a corporate portal server has been described. However, the customization processing that can be realized by the present invention is not limited to this, and other customization processing can also be realized. Hereinafter, a method of implementing the backup and synchronization processing will be described as another example of the customization processing.
[0024]
First, an example of processing when the portal component processing unit 1110 in FIG. 1 automatically backs up data in a specific service using terminal will be described with reference to the flowchart in FIG. First, when a program termination instruction by a user input or the like from the administrator of the in-company portal server 1020 is detected (step 6010), the processing of the portal component processing unit is terminated. When the access from the service using terminal 1010 is detected (step 6020), information for identifying the terminal is obtained from the communication header information at the time of access (step 6030). For example, in HTTP, information such as an IP address of an access source and a type of a Web browser is set in an HTTP request header, and a terminal can be determined from such information. Next, the backup / synchronization necessity determination table is read (step 6040), and it is determined whether backup processing needs to be performed on the access terminal (step 6050). If it is determined that a backup process is necessary, data of the type or location designated for backup is acquired from the service using terminal and stored in the backup DB prepared in the company portal server 1020 (step 6060).
[0025]
On the other hand, a process example in which the portal component processing unit 1110 in FIG. 1 automatically updates the latest data by synchronizing data in a specific service using terminal with corresponding data in the in-company portal server 1020 Will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. First, when a program termination instruction by a user input or the like from the administrator of the in-house portal server 1020 is detected (step 7010), the processing of the portal component processing unit is terminated. When the access from the service using terminal 1010 is detected (step 7020), information for identifying the terminal is obtained from the communication header information at the time of access (step 7030). Next, the backup / synchronization necessity determination table is read (step 7040), and it is determined whether or not the access terminal needs to perform a synchronization process (step 7050). If it is determined that the synchronization process is necessary, the data of the type designated for synchronization is compared with the last update date and time of the data in the service using terminal and the data in the in-company portal server 1020, and the in-company portal server 1020 is compared. If the data inside is newer (step 7060), the data is copied to the service using terminal side and updated to the latest data (step 7070).
[0026]
FIG. 8 shows a configuration example of the backup / synchronization necessity determination table. The backup / synchronization necessity determination table 8000 includes an access source condition 8010 such as an IP address and a type of a service using terminal, and a backup specification 8020 for specifying necessity of backup for the terminal of each condition and a type of data to be backed up. And a list of lines including a synchronization designation 8030 for designating the necessity of synchronization with the latest data for the terminal of each condition, the type of data to be synchronized, and the like. Hold. By setting appropriate values in this table, for example, for a PDA (Personal Digital Assistants) provided by the company, the schedule and business card exchange data are automatically backed up, and the bookmarks and phonebook data are automatically updated to the latest ones. Can be updated dynamically.
[0027]
As described above, in the first embodiment, the processing method in the case of performing customization according to the position and type of each employee on the in-company portal server 1020 has been described. Subsequently, in a second embodiment described below, a processing method in the case of performing customization according to each company or employee on the integrated service server 1030 will be described. The configuration of the present embodiment is the same as the configuration of FIG. 1 of the first embodiment except that a service level table 9000 is added on the integrated service server 1030. FIG. 9 shows a configuration example of the service level table. The service level table 9000 includes a use source 9010 indicating a company as an access source, a job system 9020 indicating a post name, a section name, and the like defined in each company, and an execution level and a pattern of a business service for each job system of each company. It is a list of lines including the service level 9030 to be determined. By setting appropriate values in this table, even if the same job title or department name is different from business to business in each company, each is identified according to the setting value of the above service level, and job authority and job content are identified. Since it can be changed, there is no need to prepare an individual customization program for each company. Also, when adding a company that uses the integrated service server, it is only necessary to set a value in this table, and there is no need to modify the customization program.
[0028]
A processing example of the service cooperation processing unit 1130 when customizing services according to each company or employee on the integrated service server 1030 using the service level table 9000 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. . The processing in steps 10010 to 10070 is the same as the processing in steps 3010 to 3070 in the first embodiment. When the service execution request is detected, the contract information table and the provided service information table are read, and an appropriate service combination method is determined (step 10070). Then, the service level table 9000 is read, and the service level table 9000 is read according to the job organization information of the use source. The execution method of each business service is determined (step 10080). Thereafter, the selected services are sequentially executed based on the designated service level, and the execution results are output (step 10090).
[0029]
As described above, in the second embodiment, as an example of the customization processing performed on the integrated service server, the processing example in which the execution level and the pattern of each business service are customized is described. However, the customization processing that can be realized by the present invention is not limited to this. By expanding the information to be set in the service level of the service level table, for example, the service cooperation destination can be switched according to the position / occupation information. It is also possible to easily realize customization processing such as changing the execution order of services.
[0030]
Further, in the present embodiment, when a contract information table that defines available contracted services is held on the integrated service server, that is, between a specialized company that provides services and each company that uses services. A method for managing contract information and selecting an appropriate service using the information has been described. However, the contract information to be managed is not limited to the above information, but also manages the contract information between each specialized company that provides the service and each employee who uses the service directly. In such a case, an appropriate service may be selected, or the service may be customized according to each user.
[0031]
In the above-described embodiment, the method of realizing the customization without providing the personnel information of the employees belonging to each company to the specialized company at all has been described. However, it is not entirely impossible to provide employee personnel information for reasons such as system structure. Depending on the contents of contracts and services, some personnel information may be provided to specialized companies. May be.
[0032]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, according to the present invention, outsourcing such as general affairs operations can be realized while utilizing basic information and organizational information of employees independently managed by each company, thereby reducing costs such as labor costs. And business efficiency can be improved, and business services suited to the attribute information of each company or employee can be provided.
[0033]
Also, the customization of the services provided according to the attributes of each company or employee is basically performed on the portal server side within each company, so even when providing outsourcing services to many companies, the load of customization processing is reduced. It can be distributed for each company.
[0034]
Furthermore, even when a different position structure is defined for each company, the service can be appropriately customized according to the job authority of each company.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating a configuration example of a first embodiment of a service mediation method according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing an operation example of a portal component processing unit 1110 in FIG.
FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating an operation example of a service cooperation processing unit 1130 in FIG. 1;
FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a configuration example of a contract information table 1140 in FIG.
FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a configuration example of a provided service information table 1150 in FIG.
FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating an operation example when a backup process is realized in the portal component processing unit 1110 in FIG. 1;
FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing an operation example when a synchronization process is realized in portal component processing section 1110 in FIG. 1;
FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of a backup / synchronization necessity determination table.
FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of a service level table.
FIG. 10 is a flowchart illustrating an operation example of a service cooperation processing unit 1130 according to the second embodiment.
[Explanation of symbols]
1010 to 1040: Information processing device, 1050 to 1070: Network, 1080: Router, 1090: Service use application, 1100: Portal site base software, 1110: Portal parts processing unit, 1120: In-company information database, 1130: Service cooperation processing Section, 1140 contract information table, 1150 provided service information table, 1160 service providing application, 4000 contract information table, 5000 provided service information table, 8000 backup / synchronization necessity determination table, 9000 service level table .

Claims (7)

A service providing device that provides a service, a service using device that uses the service, a first service mediation device that receives requests from the plurality of service using devices, and an appropriate service from the services provided by the plurality of service providing devices. In a service system connected to a second service mediation device to be selected via a network,
Connecting the first service mediation device in a network domain capable of referring to information necessary for customizing the service to be provided,
The first service intermediation device, wherein a service to be provided is customized based on information necessary for customizing the service. In a service mediating device connected via a network to a service using device that uses a plurality of services and another service mediating device that selects an appropriate service from the services provided by the plurality of service providing devices,
Connect to a network domain where information required to customize the service to be provided can be referenced,
A first processing step for acquiring information necessary for customizing the provided service;
A second processing step for customizing a service to be provided based on the information acquired in the first processing step. A service providing device that provides a service, a service using device that uses the service, a first service mediation device that receives requests from the plurality of service using devices, and an appropriate service from the services provided by the plurality of service providing devices. In a service system connected to a second service mediation device to be selected via a network,
A conversion table for converting a plurality of attribute values set based on different criteria, obtained from the first service mediation apparatus, into attribute values set based on a unified criterion is stored in the second service. Have it in the mediation device,
The service mediation method according to the second service mediation device, wherein a service to be provided is customized based on information set in the conversion table. In a service providing device that provides a plurality of services, another service mediating device that receives a request from a plurality of service using devices, and a service mediating device connected via a network,
In the second service mediating apparatus, the second service mediating apparatus has a conversion table for converting a plurality of attribute values set based on different criteria into attribute values set based on a unified criteria,
Based on the information set in the conversion table, convert a plurality of attribute values set based on different criteria, obtained from the first service mediating apparatus, into attribute values set based on a unified reference A first processing step for
And a second processing step for customizing a service execution method using the attribute values converted in the first processing step. A processing method for customizing the service to be provided,
2. The service mediation method according to claim 1, wherein input / output data for the service using device is edited. A processing method for customizing the service to be provided,
2. The service mediation method according to claim 1, wherein specific data held in the storage device of the service using device is backed up in the storage device of the first service mediation device. A processing method for customizing the service to be provided,
Comparing the last update date and time of the specific data held in the storage device of the service using device with the last update date and time of the corresponding data held in the storage device of the first service mediation device, 2. The service according to claim 1, wherein if the corresponding data held in the storage device is newer, the specific data held in the storage device of the service using device is updated using the data. Mediation method.

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