Service level

About: Service level is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 7647 publications have been published within this topic receiving 126093 citations. The topic is also known as: service level.

A Metrics Suite for Evaluating Flexibility and Complexity in Service Oriented Architectures

Abstract: Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) is emerging to be the predominant architectural style of choice for many organizations due to the promised agility, flexibility and resilience benefits However, there are currently few SOA metrics designed to evaluate complexity, effort estimates and health status of SOA solutions This paper therefore proposes a SOA metrics framework which includes both service level and SOA-wide metrics to measure design and runtime qualities of a SOA solution The SOA-wide metrics predict the overall complexity, agility and health status of SOA solutions, while service level metrics focus on the fundamental building blocks of SOA, ie services The combined views deliver a compelling suite of SOA metrics that would benefit organizations as they consider adopting SOA These metrics, which are based on observations of many SOA engagements, are illustrated through a case study that describes a recent ongoing project at IBM where SOA was utilized to build the solution assets

Fill Rates of Single-Stage and Multistage Supply Systems

Abstract: A supply system's fill rate is the fraction of demand that is met from on-hand inventory. This paper presents formulas for the fill rate of periodic review supply systems that use base-stock-level policies. The first part of the paper contains fill-rate formulas for a single-stage system and general distributions of demand. When demand is normally distributed, an exact expression uses only the standard normal distribution and density functions, and a good approximation uses only the standard normal distribution function. The second part of the paper derives the probability distribution of the finished goods inventory level for serial systems with buffer inventories between stages. This distribution leads to fill-rate formulas and the conclusion that shorter supply chains have higher fill rates.

Cost-Efficient and Application SLA-Aware Client Side Request Scheduling in an Infrastructure-as-a-Service Cloud

Abstract: Providers of applications deployed in an Infrastructure-as-a-Service cloud permanently face the decision of whether it is more cost-efficient to scale up(i.e., rent more resources from the cloud) or to delay incoming requests, even though doing so may lead to dissatisfied customers and broken service level agreements. This decision is further complicated by the fact that not all customers have the same agreements, and not all requests require the same amount of resources devoted to them. In this paper, we present an approach for optimally scheduling incoming requests to virtual computing resources in the cloud, so that the sum of payments for resources and loss incurred by service level agreement violations is minimized. We discuss our approach based on an illustrative use case. Furthermore, we present a numerical evaluation based on real-life request data, which shows that our agreement-aware algorithm improves upon earlier work, which does not take service level agreements into account.

COVID- 19: outcomes for Global Supply Chains

Abstract: The COVID-19 crisis exposed the vulnerability and poor resilience of the global supply chains The objective of this research is to reflect on the possible impacts of the Coronavirus crisis in the global supply chains and provide some recommendations to overcome the present situation, offering suggestions for future research: (1) What are the contingency factors affecting Supply Chains in the complex COVID-19 operating environment? (2) How do these factors affect post-COVID-19 operating performance? After a contextualization of the COVID-19 pandemic crisis and its impacts, theoretical background on Supply Chains and Supply Chain Management are presented, and a summary of the main scenarios for the post-COVID-19 crisis are discussed The propositions regarding the contingency factors and their impact on the Supply Chain operating performance in post-COVID-19 suggest that successful companies will focus on creating a new kind of operational performance and minimize risks To that end, companies will aim to improve their operations' resilience (ability to resist, hold on, and recover from shocks) and accelerate the end-to-end digital transformation Consumers will have to adapt to the contact-free economy, less low-cost supply chains, and put additional emphasis on service levels Governments will reinforce the focus in the health sector supply chain and increase spending in the health and social care sectors Furthermore, the longer, the more concentrated, the less transparent, and the more price sensitivity is the supply chain, the more challenging the adaptation to the new pos pandemic realities Suggestions for future research are also provided