A personal digital assistant device includes: a memory storing an interactive personal digital assistant program and a processor configured to execute the interactive personal digital assistant program. The interactive personal digital assistant program performs an operation to determine whether the service provider is automated or is not automated. The interactive personal digital assistant program is configured to issue a command to the service provider on behalf of a user of the device, when it is determined that the service provider is automated. The interactive personal digital assistant program is configured to issue an alert on the device when it is determined that the service provider is not automated. The interactive personal digital assistant program may continue until the goal of the interaction is met or human help is sought.

Methods, apparatuses and computer readable storage mediums provide virtual network slicing without duplicating network configuration data (also referred to as network configuration information) on a slice-by-slice basis by maintaining a single physical network datastore including network configuration information for all network entities in the physical network, but generating slice views for respective virtual network slices as needed over time. Methods, apparatuses and computer readable storage mediums also enable configuration of a plurality of virtual network slices sharing a physical network infrastructure.

In a method for managing a physical network, whether a slice owner of a virtual network slice in the physical network is allowed to view a network information message is determined based on at least one of classification metadata or allocation metadata associated with the virtual network slice. The network information message, which is received from the physical network, includes at least one of (i) an autonomous notification from a network node in the physical network or (ii) operational data for the network node in the physical network. The network information message is provided to the slice owner in response to determining that the slice owner is allowed to view the network information message.

The disclosure relates to an orchestrator, for a Virtual Network Platform as a Service (VNPaaS), which orchestrates the management of a Network Service (NS). The orchestrator is operative to select an orchestration zone for each of a plurality of Virtual Network Functions (VNFs) in the NS based on selected deployment locations, where each orchestration zone comprises at least one VNF. The orchestrator is operative to associate sub-services to the selected orchestration zones, the sub-services being obtained from a decomposition of the NS into a number of sub-services equal to a number of orchestration zones selected and each sub-service comprising at least one of the plurality of VNFs. The orchestrator is operative to initiate deployment of the sub-services in the selected orchestration zones.

A network management system configured to: selectively expose network management data; receive a request for a network service, the request including service requirements and parameters in accordance with the exposed network management data, wherein the service comprises a selected one of: Communication as a Service (CaaS), Network Slice as a Service (NSaaS), Network Slice Subnet as a Service (NSSaaS), and Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS); and responsive to the received request, negotiate a service level agreement based on the service requirements and parameters.

A personal digital assistant device includes: a memory storing an interactive personal digital assistant program and a processor configured to execute the interactive personal digital assistant program. The interactive personal digital assistant program performs an operation to determine whether the service provider is automated or is not automated. The interactive personal digital assistant program is configured to issue a command to the service provider on behalf of a user of the device, when it is determined that the service provider is automated. The interactive personal digital assistant program is configured to issue an alert on the device when it is determined that the service provider is not automated. The interactive personal digital assistant program may continue until the goal of the interaction is met or human help is sought.

A plurality of software instances deployed in a monitored environment are discovered by a software asset management tool operated by a software asset administrator who is responsible for monitoring software license compliance within the monitored environment. The software asset management tool then collects metrics associated with the plurality of software instances. The collected metrics are then provided to a first analytic service adapted to generate analytic information about the plurality of software instances. Using at least the collected metrics, the analytic service generates analytic information. The analytic information is then obtained from the analytic service. By reviewing the analytic information, the software asset administrator is able to obtain additional insight into the monitored environment that would not otherwise be available to him.

A plurality of software instances deployed in a monitored environment are discovered by a software asset management tool operated by a software asset administrator who is responsible for monitoring software license compliance within the monitored environment. The software asset management tool then collects metrics associated with the plurality of software instances. The collected metrics are then provided to a first analytic service adapted to generate analytic information about the plurality of software instances. Using at least the collected metrics, the analytic service generates analytic information. The analytic information is then obtained from the analytic service. By reviewing the analytic information, the software asset administrator is able to obtain additional insight into the monitored environment that would not otherwise be available to him.

An information processing system including an image forming apparatus provided with an output function for outputting operating information to a management server and an information processing apparatus capable of operating as a proxy of the output function is provide. The image forming apparatus provides a predetermined web service, and accepts a request for setting the proxy of the output function via the predetermined web service. The information processing apparatus transmits a request for setting a proxy for making use of the information processing apparatus as a proxy for the output function to the image forming apparatus providing the predetermined web service among apparatuses on a network.