Service level objective

About: Service level objective is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 7894 publications have been published within this topic receiving 218701 citations.

Self-adaptive workload classification and forecasting for proactive resource provisioning

Abstract: As modern enterprise software systems become increasingly dynamic, workload forecasting techniques are gaining an importance as a foundation for online capacity planning and resource management. Time series analysis offers a broad spectrum of methods to calculate workload forecasts based on history monitoring data. Related work in the field of workload forecasting mostly concentrates on evaluating specific methods and their individual optimisation potential or on predicting QoS metrics directly. As a basis, we present a survey on established forecasting methods of the time series analysis concerning their benefits and drawbacks and group them according to their computational overheads. In this paper, we propose a novel self-adaptive approach that selects suitable forecasting methods for a given context based on a decision tree and direct feedback cycles together with a corresponding implementation. The user needs to provide only his general forecasting objectives. In several experiments and case studies based on real-world workload traces, we show that our implementation of the approach provides continuous and reliable forecast results at run-time. The results of this extensive evaluation show that the relative error of the individual forecast points is significantly reduced compared with statically applied forecasting methods, for example, in an exemplary scenario on average by 37%. In a case study, between 55 and 75% of the violations of a given service level objective can be prevented by applying proactive resource provisioning based on the forecast results of our implementation. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

The impact of service contact type and demographic characteristics on service quality perceptions

Abstract: Purpose This study aims to develop and test a service-based demographic framework for studying service quality perceptions. Specifically, the effect of level of service contact and key demographic variables of age, gender and income on service quality perceptions is examined. Methodology A total of 224 customers of high and low contact passenger transport services were surveyed using a self-administered questionnaire. Findings The findings indicated that service quality perceptions differed according to the level of contact inherent to the service. Consumer age was also found to affect service quality perceptions, however, no differences in service quality perceptions on the basis of gender or income were found. Implications The results of the study enhance our understanding of service quality perceptions and provide useful insight for the management and delivery of service quality. Overall, the results suggest that managers in the train travel industry need to take the level of contact as well as the views of certain demographic segments into account if they want to maximize perceived service. Demographics provide managers with a means of determining which segments of the market are feasible in terms of achieving greater market penetration. The findings of this study show the importance of considering variables relating to individual characteristic or the service itself when investigating service quality. Originality Prior research has not empirically examined whether service quality dimensions vary on the basis of service type thus this paper contributes to knowledge in this field.

Apparatus and method for ensuring a real-time connection between users and selected service provider using voice mail

Abstract: A method and apparatus are described for ensuring a real-time connection between users and selected service providers using voice mail. The system enables seekers of a wide array of services to select, contact, converse, and pay for a service provider using a communications device such as the telephone. A seeker locates a service provider by providing the name of a profession, which is recognized by the system's software. Once a service provider is selected, the system connects the seeker with the service provider for a live conversation. However, during service provider unavailability, the system enables the seeker to leave a voice mail message for the service provider and reconnects the user and service provider once the message is reviewed by the service provider. The system automatically bills the seeker for the time spent conversing with the service provider and compensates the service provider.

Context-aware market-making service

Abstract: A mobile virtual network operators system is disclosed. The mobile virtual network operators system provides a single point of contact for wireless customers accessing a variety of services offered by a plurality of vendors. The mobile virtual network operators system may generate a sales proposal for a customer or a vendor and handle a proposal generated by a customer or a vendor. The mobile virtual network operators system may include a vendor database and a customer database. The mobile virtual network operators system receives, records and analyzes plurality of the customer's product search requests to form the customer's context aware purchase history. The customer database may store accumulated context aware purchase histories for a plurality of customers. The mobile virtual network operators system may generate a solicitation proposal for a customer based on the customer's context aware purchase history. The mobile virtual network operators system can anticipate customer's needs in advance and can generate a proposal accordingly.