US Patent 8935570 Automating infrastructure workflows as atomic transactions

Information Technology (IT) system configuration is managed using a set of defined flows with atomic execution properties. The instructions to execute a change to one or more infrastructure elements (a “forward transaction”) are maintained with instructions and/or information needed to execute a corresponding “reverse” transaction that is responsible for returning the element(s) to a pre-transaction action state in the event of a configuration failure or other request originating at a high level flow.