Cloud computing relates to the sharing of computing resources that are generally accessed via the Internet. In particular, cloud computing infrastructure allows users to access a shared pool of computing resources, such as servers, storage devices, networks, applications, and/or other computing-based services. By doing so, users, such as individuals and/or enterprises, are able to access computing resources on demand that are located at remote locations in order to perform a variety of computing functions that include storing and/or processing computing data. For enterprise and other organization users, cloud computing provides flexibility in accessing cloud computing resources without accruing up-front costs, such as purchasing network equipment and investing time in establishing a private network infrastructure. Instead, by utilizing cloud computing resources, users are able redirect their resources to focus on core business functions.
In today's communication networks, examples of cloud computing services a user may utilize include software as a service (SaaS) and platform as a service (PaaS) technologies. SaaS is a delivery model that provides software as a service rather than an end product. Instead of utilizing local network or individual software installations, software is typically licensed on a subscription basis, hosted on a remote machine, and accessed as needed. For example, users are generally able to access a variety of business and/or information technology (IT) related software via a web browser. PaaS acts as an extension of SaaS that goes beyond providing software services by offering customizability and expandability features to meet a user's needs. For example, PaaS can provide a cloud-based developmental platform for users to develop, modify, and/or customize applications and/or automate business operations without maintaining network infrastructure and/or allocating computing resources normally associated with these functions.
Within the context of cloud computing solutions, support personnel may be asked to deal with higher expectations of response time to infrastructure issues. The goal of most business systems, and cloud computing systems in particular, is very high availability. Accordingly, users of business systems have grown accustom to nearly 100% availability of all business functions. One important aspect of maintaining such high availability is the ability to accurately and quickly address incident reports. Incident reports may also be thought of as help desk tickets. In general, a help desk receives information from users and automated monitors about infrastructure abnormalities. For example, a help desk may receive an incident report from a customer that they cannot log into their email system, or a customer may complain that a service is down or running slowly. One common way for a user to provide an incident report is for a user to complete a web based form describing the complaint/issue. In general, the web based form has a plurality of fields with some fields being completed in natural language (e.g., free flow text in the user's own words) and others being selected from a pre-determined set of applicable values. The pre-determined set of applicable values is generally presented in a drop-down selection box where a user may only select from the pre-determined set. Generic default values may be provided to allow the user to not have to select every required field. However, generic default values will likely not be accurate for all cases and therefore may lead to inefficiencies in addressing the reported problem. The disclosed techniques for automatic completion of fields address these and other issues.