IMPLEMENTING SUCH METHOD DESCRIPTION

Field of application of the invention

[001 ] The present invention concerns the technical sector of the information technology platforms used by companies and its subject is a method for selecting an operator able to handle the requests for intervention made by a user on an information technology platform designed to optimize business processes.

[002] The invention also concerns a computer program suited to implement a method for selecting an operator intended to handle the maintenance requests made by a user on an information technology platform designed to optimize business processes.

State of the art

[003] As is known, the use of information technology platforms has been widespread in the business and industrial context for some time now, said platforms being suited to manage automatically or semi automatically most of the operational and financial processes that characterize a specific business organization.

[004] These platforms are commonly identified by the acronym ERP - Enterprise Resource Planning an make it possible to manage all the business-related processes carried out within the company in an integrated manner.

[005] For example, these information technology products make it possible to automatically regulate and integrate the flow of data related to product sales, material purchases, warehouse management, ordinary accounting and financial flows concerning the same organization or other associated organizations.

[006] ERP platforms, sometimes referred to also as ERP systems, are characterized by the use of a common database in which all the numerical data related to the accesses and to the flow of business information can be stored. Access to the database is then regulated through a plurality of modular applications, each one of which makes it possible to manage the activity flows associated with a specific area of competence (sales, accounting, reporting etc.).

[007] The modules of the platform are developed in such a way that they are completely compatible with one another, so that in addition to the database they can also share many internal programming routines that allow a homogeneous and predictable data flow to be generated.

[008] The high complexity of these systems often leads the user to make requests for intervention to one or more specialized operators who are in charge with developing the platform software.

[009] More specifically, it is a common procedure to adapt the ERP systems to the characteristics of the individual organization that is using them and therefore the users often request the developers to carry out numerous software customization and adaptation interventions.

[0010] In order to make the flow of assistance-related activities more orderly, many platforms include the installation of a dedicated software module, through which the user can make a request (commonly called ticket) and be directly put in contact with the operator enabled to carry out the platform maintenance operation.

[001 1] From the operational point of view, handling the tickets associated with operator interventions is rather complex, as it is necessary to handle the request in a reasonably short time and in the most efficient manner for the user.

[0012] These very aspects represent the main drawbacks of the current ERP platforms as, even if they are provided with software modules dedicated to the management of the data associated with the request and the intervention, the intervention times are often rather uncertain.

[0013] This happens because the association between ticket and operator is always carried out manually or semi manually, which in addition to prolonging the intervention times requires many resources and considerably increases operating costs.

[0014] Again, a further drawback of these solutions is represented by the fact that the identification of the operator suitable for dealing with the user’s request is often made at random, without taking in consideration the technical skills that would be necessary to handle that specific request successfully.

[0015] Another, yet not the last drawback of this solution is represented by the fact that in the selection of the operator some conditions which can be defined by the user and concern aspects related to pricing (hourly fee, maximum cost of the intervention etc) or are related to the intervention times (resolution time as provided for in the contract, ideal time dedicated to the intervention by the operator etc.) are hardly taken into account.

[0016] Also in this case, therefore, the identification of the operator to whom the user’s request will be assigned is made without taking into account some important parameters that can negatively affect the cost/benefit profiles regarding both the user and the service provider.

Presentation of the invention

[0017] The present invention intends to overcome the technical drawbacks mentioned above by providing a method for selecting an operator able to handle the maintenance requests made by a user through an information technology platform for the optimization of business processes.

[0018] More specifically, it is the main object of the present invention to provide a method that can automatically optimize the selection of the operator who will be assigned the task of handling the user’s request.

[0019] It is a further object of the present invention to provide a method that makes it possible to select the operator suited to handle the request by making the choice mainly based on the technical skills and the past experience of the operator such as, by way of example, similar tickets already handled and/or average ticket resolution time.

[0020] It is another object of the present invention to provide a method for selecting an operator suited to handle the maintenance requests made by a user through an information technology platform for the optimization of business processes, wherein said method makes it possible to reduce the operator selection times.

[0021] It is a further object of the present invention to provide a method for selecting an operator suited to handle the maintenance requests made by a user through an information technology platform for the optimization of business processes, wherein said method is particularly cost-efficient for both the user and the service provider.

[0022] Again, it is another and yet not the last object of the present invention to provide a method for selecting an operator suited to handle the maintenance requests made by a user through an information technology platform for the optimization of business processes, wherein said method takes almost automatically into account any and all the limitations associated with the user.

[0023] These and other objects that are highlighted in greater detail below are achieved by a method for selecting an operator suited to handle the maintenance requests made by a user through an information technology platform for the optimization of business processes of the type according to claim 1 . [0024] Other objects that are better described below are achieved by a method for selecting an operator suited to handle the maintenance requests made by a user through an information technology platform for the optimization of business processes of the type according to the dependent claims.

[0025] According to a further aspect of the present invention, the subject of the same includes a computer program suited to implement the method described above, said program being carried out according to claim 15.

Brief description of the drawings

[0026] The advantages and characteristics of the present invention clearly emerge from the following detailed description of some preferred but non-limiting configurations of a method for handling the maintenance requests made by a user on an information technology platform for the optimization of business processes and of a respective computer program, with particular reference to the following drawings, wherein:

- Figure 1 shows screenshots related to an application of the computer program that implements the method according to the invention;

- Figure 2 shows screenshots related to another application of the computer program that implements the method according to the invention;

- Figure 3 shows a screenshot related to a further application of the computer program that implements the method according to the invention.

Detailed description of the invention

[0027] The present invention concerns a method for selecting an operator suited to handle the maintenance requests made on an information technology platform for the optimization of business processes.

[0028] More specifically, as is better clarified further on in this description, the present method makes it possible to select an information technology operator O, generally represented by a developer, an analyst or a system administrator, suited to carry out maintenance operations on a software platform designed to manage business processes of various types (for example, processes related to sales, purchases, warehouse management, accounting, financial flows etc.).

[0029] Firstly, the present method includes a first step a) of preparation of a database DB intended to allow the storage of and access to a plurality of numerical data.

[0030] The database DB used in the present method is known per se in the technical sector to which the invention is related and therefore in the present description there are no further references to its configuration or the reading or writing modes to access the numerical data contained therein.

[0031] The invention also includes a further step b) during the execution of which a plurality of numerical identification data Du. associated with one or more users U enabled to use the platform is stored.

[0032] The numerical identification data Dui contain information related, for example, to the personal details of the user U, his/her general profile, the platform access keys etc.

[0033] There is also a further step c) during which data DR generated by one or more users U enabled to use the platform is stored in the database DB.

[0034] The data DR Contains information on a request for intervention concerning one or more technical aspects related to the operation of the platform.

[0035] More specifically, the user U generates the data D _R while using the platform, when he/she notices technical malfunctions or inconsistencies associated with the output provided by the platform itself.

[0036] In other words, the data DR can be associated with a ticket generated by the user U and concerning functional aspects of the platform.

[0037] During the execution of step c), furthermore, the data DR is associated with the identification data Dui in such a way as to create a univocal connection between the request, or ticket, and the user U who generated it.

[0038] The method also includes a step d) during which a plurality of further numerical identification data Doi associated with the profiles of the operators O entrusted with maintenance tasks is stored in the database.

[0039] The maintenance operators O are generally distinct from the users U and have different access credentials.

[0040] For example, the role of operator O is generally assigned to system administrators or software developers who belong to the organization managing the platform.

[0041] These operators O, therefore, can have an administrator account that allows them to access all the technical aspects of the platform, even those not accessible to the user U who uses the latter in c//e/7/mode.

[0042] The identification data Doi related to the operators O can therefore contain information associated with their personal details and platform access keys.

[0043] Advantageously, the method that is the subject of the present invention includes a new step f) during which further numerical data Dc related to the technical skills associated with each operator O is stored in the database DB.

[0044] In the sector of information technology and software development it is known, in fact, that technical operators O have common basic skills often accompanied by specific skills that can even differ considerably from one operator to the other.

[0045] For example, developers can have different skills depending on the programming languages they need to use (for example, Java, C, PHP, Visual Basic, JavaScript, C++, C# etc.).

[0046] The same can be said also for system administrators, who can have heterogeneous knowledge related to the hardware architectures of processors and/or networks, the configuration and management of operating systems (for example, Windows, Linus etc), the network or terminal/server configurations, performance and process optimization, data backup etc.

[0047] By storing the data Dc, it is thus possible to numerically identify the list of the skills of the operator O in that moment.

[0048] Furthermore, the information contained in the data De can be such as to make it possible to associate a weight to a series of pre-established skills for each operator O, in such a way as to allow the creation of a“virtual identity card” of the skills of the operators already stored in the database DB.

[0049] The method conveniently comprises a step f) of preparation of processing means P provided with an integrated memory unit S that can be either local or remote.

[0050] Preparing the processing means P and the memory unit S allows the data stored in the database DB to be accessed and processed, thus making it possible to modify them, if necessary, or to generate new data.

The method includes a further step g) during which the database DB is interrogated by the processing means P, so as to access to the numerical data DR related to the request for intervention made by the user U. There is also a subsequent step h) of temporary storage of this numerical data DR in the memory unit S.

[0051] More specifically, during the execution of steps g) and h) it will be possible to interrogate and store in the memory unit S only some specific data DR (for example, associated with one or a few users U) or all of the data DR previously stored in the database.

[0052] There is then a step i) carried out by the processing means, during which the database DB is further interrogated, so as to access the numerical data Dc related to the skills of each individual operator O.

[0053] Following this step, there is then a step j) carried out by the processing means P, during which the information contained in the numerical data DR related to the requests generated by the user are compared with the information contained in the numerical data Dc related to the skills of the operator O and obtained during the previous interrogation step.

[0054] The processing means P are suited to promote the execution of a successive step k) of generation of new numerical data DM intended to indicate the degree of compatibility existing between the information associated with the intervention request contained in the data DR and the information contained in the data related to the skills Dc examined during the preceding comparison step j).

[0055] In practice, during the execution of steps j) and k), the processing means P are suited to process the data DR related to the intervention request and the data Dc associated with the skills of a given operator O to produce new data DM that makes it possible to express a correlation between the technical skills of said operator and the technical skills required for handling the intervention request made by the user U.

[0056] To make the information related to the compatibility data DM reliable as a whole, there is a step I) during which steps i), j) and k) described above are repeated (or iterated).

[0057] In this way, the compatibility data DM obtained at the end of these steps contain information associated with the comparison between the technical skills of all the operators and the technical skills necessary to handle the request for intervention made by the user U.

[0058] Advantageously, the method includes a selection step m) carried out by examining all the data DM associated with compatibility and obtained as an output of step

I)·

[0059] At the end of step m), some compatibility data DM are selected which refer to one or more operators and regarding which there is the highest degree of compatibility between the data D _R related to the user’s request and the data Dc related to the skills of the operators.

[0060] In other words, the compatibility data DM selected during step m) express the highest correlation currently obtainable between the set of intervention requests made by the user U and the set of presently available skills offered by the profiles of the operators O.

[0061] The information associated with the data D _M selected during step m) represent the minimum distance that, in terms of technical skills, separates the skills required to carry out a given intervention requested by the user U and the overall technical skills that the system can offer through the operators who are enabled to work on the platform in that moment.

[0062] The method comprises also a step n) of identification of the identification data Doi of the operator (or those operators) corresponding to the compatibility data DM acquired during step m).

[0063] In practice, at the end of step n) it will be possible to establish what operator or operators O will be assigned the task of handling the intervention request made by the user U or, in the jargon commonly used in the technical sector to which the invention refers, what operators will be assigned the task of closing the ticket previously opened by the user U.

[0064] As already described above, thanks to this method the processing means will make it possible to automatically select the operators O who will be assigned the task of closing a ticket through a selection criterium mainly based on the technical skills of said operators, which thus makes it possible to select the operators who are most suitable for resolving the specific technical problem posed by the user with his/her request.

[0065] Optionally, the method may also comprise a step o) during which the identification data Doi of the operator (or of the operators) O selected during step n) are associated with the identification data Du. of the user (or of the users) U so as to make it easy to identify the users U for whom the operators are performing an assistance activity vis-a- vis a specific request for intervention.

[0066] Again, the method may comprise, before the comparison step j), a step p) during which corresponding management data D _G associated with characteristic information related to each user U is stored in the database DB. [0067] The management data D _G may refer to information of various types and is customized for each user. For example, this data may refer to the hourly maintenance fee, to the maximum cost and/or duration of the intervention possibly allowable for the user according to the latter’s price plan or platform use agreement.

[0068] These management data D _G is conveniently correlated with the identification data Dui of each user U so that each user is associated with the company details and also with accounting details which must be taken in consideration during the execution of a maintenance operation.

[0069] The method may conveniently comprise a new comparison step q) carried out by the processing means and suited to compare the information associated with the compatibility data DM obtained during the execution of step m) with the information associated with the management data DG.

[0070] This step q) is carried out after step o) of storage of the management data DG and after step m) of selection of the compatibility data D _M .

[0071] In addition to the above, there is an evaluation step r), following the comparison step q) described above, during which the processing means P are able to confirm whether the numerical compatibility data DM selected during step m) are valid or not.

[0072] Obviously, the evaluation of the numerical data on compatibility DM is carried out in relation to the information contained in the management data previously stored in the database during step p).

[0073] In other words, with the introduction of steps q) and r) it is possible to evaluate the selection of the profile of the operator who is most suitable for handling that specific intervention request, evaluating the operator’s skills but also the information contained in the management data DG associated with that specific user U.

[0074] The information contained in the management data DG, in fact, can considerably affect the choice of the operator who will need to carry out a correct maintenance operation while at the same time maintaining all the cost and time indices of the intervention within the limits set by the management data DG.

[0075] Consequently, the present method makes it possible to select the ideal operator profile by“weighing” (or“parametrizing”) the set of operators O according to their skills and their handling indices (based on intervention costs and times).

[0076] If the evaluation made during step r) is positive, the data DM are not modified, while if the evaluation is negative said data are overwritten by the processing means P.

[0077] Conveniently, if the evaluation made during step r) is negative, that is, if the processing means should find out that the compatibility data DM do not meet the expectations defined according to the management data DG, the selection of the operator who is most suitable for handling that specific request of the user will not be finalized.

[0078] In this case, therefore, the steps from j) to m) are repeated until the conditions defined according to the management data D _G are met.

[0079] In the event that following said iteration no operator profile meets the limits defined according to the management data DG, the method will not provide any ideal operator profile for handling the user’s request or, alternatively, the method will be able to identify one or more operator profiles that most match the ideal profile.

[0080] Conveniently, there can be a step s) during which new data DD associated with technical skills desired by each individual operator but not yet possessed by the same is stored in the database DB.

[0081] In practice, the data DD refers to the“wish list” of the skills which each operator O intends to acquire in the next future but that he/she currently does not possess, so these wished skills cannot be included in the numerical data Dc stored during the execution of step e) of the method.

[0082] It is thus possible to add a step t) of the method, carried out by the processing means P, during which the latter process the data DD associated with the wished technical skills in order to provide further numerical data DF as an output.

[0083] More specifically, the data DF IS configured in such a way as to associate one or more individual training activities with each operator, said training data reflecting the information already contained in the data DD stored in the database during step s).

[0084] According to a further aspect of the invention, the subject of the same includes a computer program comprising a plurality of instructions suited to reproduce the method described above when they are executed on the processor.

[0085] More specifically, this computer program is suited to define an information technology platform for the optimization of business processes (ERP) which can be made up of a sequence of applications designed to be installed on one or more electronic devices (computer, tablet, server etc.).

[0086] Each application is modular, meaning that its input and output data structure is perfectly compatible with the other applications of the platform.

[0087] Furthermore, the electronic device on which said applications are installed will comprise processing means P (including one or more processors) and one or more memory units S in which it will be possible to install a database DB for the management of the numerical data produced by the various applications and by the processing means

P.

[0088] Conveniently, the database DB is connected to all the applications, in such a way that it shares with the latter the writing/reading accesses of the numerical data generated during the creation of the platform.

[0089] For example, a first application (Figure 1 ) can be suited to manage the information associated with the user and the requests (or tickets) related to the maintenance operations requested by the user in order to optimize the platform.

[0090] The identification data of one or more users Dui and the data related to the intervention requests DR can be inserted, modified, and displayed in this first application.

[0091] Furthermore, the user can share his/her request also with other users enabled to use the platform: in this way, each user can possibly give his/her contribution to the resolution of the maintenance request, even before a specialized operator is contacted and his/her intervention requested.

[0092] There can also be a second application (Figure 2) in which the user and the service provider can insert, modify, and display numerical data associated with the cost reporting of the various requests.

[0093] In this second application it will be possible to access the economic indicators related to the maintenance activity such as, for example, the hourly fee associated with each user, the fixed costs associated with each specialized operator, the costs resulting from the management of the service and/or external costs which must be taken into account.

[0094] The second application can be used to generate and modify the management data DG which must finally be taken into account when identifying the ideal operator profile for handling the user’s request.

[0095] The platform can include a third application (Figure 3) configured to manage the selection of the profile of the operator suited to handle the user’s ticket.

[0096] This application will obviously be enabled to access the numerical data DR related to the assistance requests made by the user and will also make it possible to insert and modify the identification data Doi associated with the personal details of each operator and the data Dc related to their skills.

[0097] This application will also be enabled to access the management data D _G managed through the second application described above.

[0098] The third application will be able to carry out one or more steps of the method that is the subject of the present invention, in such a way as to provide as an output the ideal operator profile for handling a precise request for intervention made by the user.

[0099] The platform includes also a fourth application whose function is mainly to present the data collected or processed by the other applications in an orderly and comprehensive manner.

[00100] This application is thus able to display, for example, the identification data Du. of the users, the data DR associated with the requests made by the latter, the data related to the reporting activities, the management data Dc and all the data Doi and Dc related to the operators.

[00101 ] Finally, there is also a fifth application (Figure 3) used exclusively by specialized operators, in which it is possible to manage all the information associated with external events not directly ascribable to the users such as, for example, training activities, requests for specific technical investigations etc.

[00102] Furthermore, this application manages also the information associated with the external events concerning final cost reporting and the planning of activities.

[00103] This application is thus able to manage the data DD associated with the further technical skills not yet possessed by the single operators and to achieve which the latter would be willing to attend specific training courses, as well as with final cost reports and planning activities.

[00104] This data DD is then processed according to the respective steps of the method, in such a way as to obtain the corresponding data DF associated with the training activities organized from the outside (for example, by specialist organizations, software houses or IT consultants) in which any operator can take part in order to reach the desired level of competence, and with the activities presently carried out, including the planning of future maintenance and training activities.

[00105] In a specific embodiment of this application, the determination of the data D _G can be more complex than described, as this data may be“weighed” (or“parametrized”) also against the data DR related to the requests introduced in the platform by the users.

[00106] In this way, the activities intended to build the competences of each operator may be mainly focused on subjects useful to solve some recurring problems that arise during the use of the platform, as well as future planning.

[00107] The present invention can be carried out also in other variants, all falling within the scope of the inventive characteristics claimed and described herein; these technical details can be replaced by different technically equivalent elements and materials; the shapes and sizes of the invention can be any, provided that they are compatible with its intended use.

[00108] The reference numbers and/or signs included in the claims and in the description have the only purpose of making the text clearer to understand and must not be considered as elements limiting the technical interpretation of the objects or processes they identify.