diff --git a/utils.cpp b/utils.cpp
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..16cd1b4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/utils.cpp
@@ -0,0 +1,107 @@
+#include "utils.hpp"
+
+#include <phosphor-logging/log.hpp>
+
+
+namespace phosphor
+{
+namespace time
+{
+
+namespace // anonymous
+{
+/** @brief The map that maps the string to Mode */
+const std::map<std::string, Mode> modeMap =
+{
+    { "NTP", Mode::NTP },
+    { "MANUAL", Mode::MANUAL },
+};
+
+/** @brief The map that maps the string to Owner */
+const std::map<std::string, Owner> ownerMap =
+{
+    { "BMC", Owner::BMC },
+    { "HOST", Owner::HOST },
+    { "SPLIT", Owner::SPLIT },
+    { "BOTH", Owner::BOTH },
+};
+}
+
+namespace utils
+{
+
+using namespace phosphor::logging;
+
+Mode strToMode(const std::string& mode)
+{
+    auto it = modeMap.find(mode);
+    if (it == modeMap.end())
+    {
+        log<level::ERR>("Unrecognized mode",
+                        entry("%s", mode.c_str()));
+        // TODO: use elog to throw exceptions
+        assert(0);
+    }
+    return it->second;
+}
+
+Owner strToOwner(const std::string& owner)
+{
+    auto it = ownerMap.find(owner);
+    if (it == ownerMap.end())
+    {
+        log<level::ERR>("Unrecognized owner",
+                        entry("%s", owner.c_str()));
+        // TODO: use elog to throw exceptions
+        assert(0);
+    }
+    return it->second;
+}
+
+const char* modeToStr(Mode mode)
+{
+    const char* ret{};
+    switch (mode)
+    {
+    case Mode::NTP:
+        ret = "NTP";
+        break;
+    case Mode::MANUAL:
+        ret = "MANUAL";
+        break;
+    default:
+        // TODO: use elog to throw exceptions
+        assert(0);
+        break;
+    }
+    return ret;
+}
+
+const char* ownerToStr(Owner owner)
+{
+    const char* ret{};
+    switch (owner)
+    {
+    case Owner::BMC:
+        ret = "BMC";
+        break;
+    case Owner::HOST:
+        ret = "HOST";
+        break;
+    case Owner::SPLIT:
+        ret = "SPLIT";
+        break;
+    case Owner::BOTH:
+        ret = "BOTH";
+        break;
+    default:
+        // TODO: use elog to throw exceptions
+        assert(0);
+        break;
+    }
+    return ret;
+}
+
+} // namespace utils
+} // namespace time
+} // namespace phosphor