Showing papers on "Services computing published in 2008"

Toward a Unified Ontology of Cloud Computing

Abstract: Progress of research efforts in a novel technology is contingent on having a rigorous organization of its knowledge domain and a comprehensive understanding of all the relevant components of this technology and their relationships. Cloud computing is one contemporary technology in which the research community has recently embarked. Manifesting itself as the descendant of several other computing research areas such as service-oriented architecture, distributed and grid computing, and virtualization, cloud computing inherits their advancements and limitations. Towards the end-goal of a thorough comprehension of the field of cloud computing, and a more rapid adoption from the scientific community, we propose in this paper an ontology of this area which demonstrates a dissection of the cloud into five main layers, and illustrates their interrelations as well as their inter-dependency on preceding technologies. The contribution of this paper lies in being one of the first attempts to establish a detailed ontology of the cloud. Better comprehension of the technology would enable the community to design more efficient portals and gateways for the cloud, and facilitate the adoption of this novel computing approach in scientific environments. In turn, this will assist the scientific community to expedite its contributions and insights into this evolving computing field.

Cloud Computing – Issues, Research and Implementations

Abstract: "Cloud" computing – a relatively recent term, builds on decades of research in virtualization, distributed computing, utility computing, and more recently networking, web and software services. It implies a service oriented architecture, reduced information technology overhead for the end-user, great flexibility, reduced total cost of ownership, on-demand services and many other things. This paper discusses the concept of “cloud” computing, some of the issues it tries to address, related research topics, and a “cloud” implementation available today.

Service-oriented computing: a research roadmap

Abstract: Service-Oriented Computing (SOC) is a new computing paradigm that utilizes services as the basic constructs to support the development of rapid, low-cost and easy composition of distributed applications even in heterogeneous environments. The promise of Service-Oriented Computing is a world of cooperating services where application components are assembled with little effort into a network of services that can be loosely coupled to create flexible dynamic business processes and agile applications that may span organizations and computing platforms. The subject of Service-Oriented Computing is vast and enormously complex, spanning many concepts and technologies that find their origins in diverse disciplines that are woven together in an intricate manner. In addition, there is a need to merge technology with an understanding of business processes and organizational structures, a combination of recognizing an enterprise's pain points and the potential solutions that can be applied to correct them. The materi...

Cloud computing — Issues, research and implementations

Abstract: ldquoCloudrdquo computing - a relatively recent term, builds on decades of research in virtualization, distributed computing, utility computing, and more recently networking, web and software services. It implies a service oriented architecture, reduced information technology overhead for the end-user, great flexibility, reduced total cost of ownership, on-demand services and many other things. This paper discusses the concept of ldquocloudrdquo computing, issues it tries to address, related research topics, and a ldquocloudrdquo implementation available today.

An operational model for mainstreaming ecosystem services for implementation

Abstract: Research on ecosystem services has grown markedly in recent years. However, few studies are embedded in a social process designed to ensure effective management of ecosystem services. Most research has focused only on biophysical and valuation assessments of putative services. As a mission-oriented discipline, ecosystem service research should be user-inspired and user-useful, which will require that researchers respond to stakeholder needs from the outset and collaborate with them in strategy development and implementation. Here we provide a pragmatic operational model for achieving the safeguarding of ecosystem services. The model comprises three phases: assessment, planning, and management. Outcomes of social, biophysical, and valuation assessments are used to identify opportunities and constraints for implementation. The latter then are transformed into user-friendly products to identify, with stakeholders, strategic objectives for implementation (the planning phase). The management phase undertakes and coordinates actions that achieve the protection of ecosystem services and ensure the flow of these services to beneficiaries. This outcome is achieved via mainstreaming, or incorporating the safeguarding of ecosystem services into the policies and practices of sectors that deal with land- and water-use planning. Management needs to be adaptive and should be institutionalized in a suite of learning organizations that are representative of the sectors that are concerned with decision-making and planning. By following the phases of our operational model, projects for safeguarding ecosystem services are likely to empower stakeholders to implement effective on-the-ground management that will achieve resilience of the corresponding social-ecological systems.

Deploying and managing Web services: issues, solutions, and directions

Abstract: Web services are expected to be the key technology in enabling the next installment of the Web in the form of the Service Web. In this paradigm shift, Web services would be treated as first-class objects that can be manipulated much like data is now manipulated using a database management system. Hitherto, Web services have largely been driven by standards. However, there is a strong impetus for defining a solid and integrated foundation that would facilitate the kind of innovations witnessed in other fields, such as databases. This survey focuses on investigating the different research problems, solutions, and directions to deploying Web services that are managed by an integrated Web Service Management System (WSMS). The survey identifies the key features of a WSMS and conducts a comparative study on how current research approaches and projects fit in.

Addressing the What and How of Online Services: Positioning Supporting-Services Functionality and Service Quality for Business-to-Consumer Success

Abstract: With the continued growth of business-to-consumer (B2C) e-business, online vendors are providing an increasing array of services that support and enhance their core products or services. For example, Amazon.com does not just sell books; it also enhances that core product with automated product recommendations, “wish list” tracking, order status updates, customer reviews, and many other valuable supporting services. These supporting services are made possible exclusively through the design and deployment of information technology (IT) to provide website supporting services functionality (SSF). In this paper, we define and develop the concept of B2C SSF and investigate how IT can support core products or services. We theorize the role that SSF plays in an environment where individuals who visit B2C websites are not only customers but also technology users. Given the unique online environment that amalgamates vendor services with information systems (IS), our model integrates theories from both services marketing and technology acceptance to help explain the behavior of these customers/users. In doing so, we investigate the role of the extensively researched concept of service quality in relation to SSF. Although service quality provides guidance for how supporting services should be provided (e.g., responsively and reliably), it does not address what those services are (e.g., product recommendations). SSF addresses this deficiency, thus providing both theoretical and practical benefits through a focus on IT design and deployment. The results of a field study support that SSF is an important predictor of customer beliefs and behavior, beyond that predicted by service quality alone. SSF is an important concept to consider---theoretically and practically---in IT-mediated B2C service.

A Tale of Clouds: Paradigm Comparisons and Some Thoughts on Research Issues

Abstract: Cloud computing is an emerging computing paradigm. It aims to share data, calculations, and services transparently among users of a massive grid. Although the industry has started selling cloud-computing products, research challenges in various areas, such as UI design, task decomposition, task distribution, and task coordination, are still unclear. Therefore, we study the methods to reason and model cloud computing as a step toward identifying fundamental research questions in this paradigm. In this paper, we compare cloud computing with service computing and pervasive computing. Both the industry and research community have actively examined these three computing paradigms. We draw a qualitative comparison among them based on the classic model of computer architecture. We finally evaluate the comparison results and draw up a series of research questions in cloud computing for future exploration.

The Disappearing Computer

Abstract: It seems like a paradox but it will soon become reality: The rate at which computers disappear will be matched by the rate at which information technology will increasingly permeate our environment and our lives.

An approach to a Cloud Computing network

Abstract: ldquoCloud Computingrdquo is becoming increasingly relevant, as it will enable companies involved in spreading this technology to open the doors to Web 3.0. In this work the basic features of cloud computing are presented and compared with those of the original technology: Grid Computing. The new categories of services introduced will slowly replace many types of computational resources currently used. In this perspective, grid computing, the basic element for the large scale supply of cloud services, will play a fundamental role in defining how those services will be provided. The paper describes the concept of computational resources outsourcing, referred to computational grids and a real application. This work utilises the results by the Cybersar Project managed by the COSMOLAB Consortium (Italy).

Design of emerging digital services: a taxonomy

Abstract: There has been a gigantic shift from a product based economy to one based on services, specifically digital services. From every indication it is likely to be more than a passing fad and the changes these emerging digital services represent will continue to transform commerce and have yet to reach market saturation. Digital services are being designed for and offered to users, yet very little is known about the design process that goes behind these developments. Is there a science behind designing digital services? By examining 12 leading digital services, we have developed a design taxonomy to be able to classify and contrast digital services. What emerged in the taxonomy were two broad dimensions; a set of fundamental design objectives and a set of fundamental service provider objectives. This paper concludes with an application of the proposed taxonomy to three leading digital services. We hope that the proposed taxonomy will be useful in understanding the science behind the design of digital services.

A Software as a Service with Multi-tenancy Support for an Electronic Contract Management Application

Abstract: In most commercial electronic contract management applications available today, different customized code base has to be developed, deployed and operated to support each tenant. Few advanced commercial electronic contract management applications use a single code base with configuration options to support multi-tenants. However, a separate instance of the code base still has to be deployed and operated for each tenant even in these applications. The business model of having to support a single application instance for each tenant makes an electronic contract management application and other critical business applications out of reach for most small and medium businesses (SMBs), in particular, the very small businesses (SVBs) because of its high development and maintenance cost. Recently, a new business model of a single application instance supporting multi-tenancy based on software as a service (SaaS) has emerged making expensive business applications more affordable for SMBs and SVBs for multi-tenancy [1]. In this paper, we present the first of a kind multi-tenancy SaaS electronic contract management application. We also describe several novel methods used in the metadata, security and shared services, as well as customization and tenant extensions modules to support multi-tenancy SaaS in this application. This multi-tenancy SaaS application has shown to benefit both the application service providers as well as their tenants. This new multi-tenancy SaaS model can reduce the application hosting cost and make the application more affordable to the tenants because of its capabilities in customization and scalability while continuing to support an increasing number of tenants. It furthers benefits tenants by saving their money and time with immediate access to the latest IT innovations and infrastructure improvements on a single application code base. Most end users of tenants have found their productivities increased, the contract transaction time accelerated, contractual errors reduced in using this multi-tenancy SaaS electronic contract management application as demonstrated in several ongoing IBM pilot programs serving more than ten tenants with over 3000 end users.

Management of Software Implemented Services in Processor-Based Devices

Abstract: A service management system for devices with embedded processor systems manages use of memory by programs implementing the services by assigning services to classes and limiting the number of services per class that can be loaded into memory. Classes enable achieving predictable and stable system behavior, defining the services and service classes in a manifest that is downloaded to embedded devices operating on a network, such as a cable or satellite television network, telephone or computer network, and permit a system operator, administrator, or manager to manage the operation of the embedded devices while deploying new services implemented with applications downloaded from the network when the service is requested by a user.

Unifying Human and Software Services in Web-Scale Collaborations

Abstract: As collaborative Web-based platforms evolve into service-oriented architectures, they promote composite and user-enriched services. In such platforms, the collaborations typically involve both humans and software services, thus creating highly dynamic and complex interactions. However, today's collaboration tools don't let humans specify different interaction interfaces (services), which can be reused in various collaborations. Furthermore, humans need more ways to indicate their availability and desire to participate in collaborations. The human-provided services (HPS) framework lets people manage their interactions and seamlessly integrate their capabilities into Web-scale workflows as services. It unifies humans and software services and supports ad hoc and process-centric collaborations.

Towards a theory of organizational information services

Abstract: The use of information technology (IT) in organizations has undergone dramatic changes during the past 30 years. As a result, it has become increasingly common to adopt services rather than traditional systems perspective to more accurately capture contemporary practices. There is, however, a lack of theories that can help us understand, assess, and design information services in organizational contexts. On this backdrop, we combine general notions of information processing options and requirements to outline a contingency theory of organizational use of information services. The theory suggests that information services are configurations of heterogeneous information processing capabilities; these services are evoked by organizational actors to help execute tasks, and evoking different configurations may lead to equally satisfactory outcomes. The theory distinguishes between four types of services computational, adaptive, networking, and collaborative services, and it suggests that organizational actors need portfolios of information services that are suited to the equivocality and uncertainty profile of the information processing they face. The paper defines four types of services and how they relate to information processing requirements; it applies the theory to a study of information services in response to vehicle policing; and it outlines how the theory relates to standardization and unintended consequences of information services. We conclude by discussing the theory and its implications for research and practice.

On-demand e-supply chain integration: A multi-agent constraint-based approach

Abstract: With e-business emerging as a key enabler to drive supply chains, the focus of supply chain management has been shifted from production efficiency to customer-driven and partnership synchronization approaches. This strategic shift depends on the match between the demands and offerings that deliver the services. To achieve this, we need to coordinate the flow of information among the services, and link their business processes under various constraints. Existing approaches to this problem have relied on complete information of services and resources, and have failed to adequately address the dynamics and uncertainties of the operating environments. The real-world situation is complicated as a result of undetermined requirements of services involved in the chain, unpredictable solutions contributed by service providers, and dynamic selection and aggregation of solutions to services. This paper examines an agent-mediated approach to on-demand e-business supply chain integration. Each agent works as a service broker, exploring individual service decisions as well as interacting with each other for achieving compatibility and coherence among the decisions of all services. Based on the framework, a prototype has been implemented with simulated experiments highlighting the effectiveness of the approach.

Dynamic composition and optimization of Web services

Abstract: Process-based composition of Web services has recently gained significant momentum for the implementation of inter-organizational business collaborations. In this approach, individual Web services are choreographed into composite Web services whose integration logics are expressed as composition schema. In this paper, we present a goal-directed composition framework to support on-demand business processes. Composition schemas are generated incrementally by a rule inference mechanism based on a set of domain-specific business rules enriched with contextual information. In situations where multiple composition schemas can achieve the same goal, we must first select the best composition schema, wherein the best schema is selected based on the combination of its estimated execution quality and schema quality. By coupling the dynamic schema creation and quality-driven selection strategy in one single framework, we ensure that the generated composite service comply with business rules when being adapted and optimized.

Web Services, Service-Oriented Computing, and Service-Oriented Architecture: Separating Hype from Reality

Abstract: Service-oriented architecture (SOA), Web services, and service-oriented computing (SOC) have become the buzz words of the day for many in the business world. It seems that virtually every company has implemented, is in the midst of implementing, or is seriously considering SOA projects, Web services projects, or service-oriented computing. A problem many organizations face when entering the SOA world is that there are nearly as many definitions of SOA as there are organizations adopting it. Further complicating the issue is an unclear picture of the value added from adopting the SOA or Web services paradigm. This article attempts to shed some light on the definition of SOA and the difficulties of assessing the value of SOA or Web services via return on investment (ROI) or nontraditional approaches, examines the scant body of evidence empirical that exists on the topic of SOA, and highlights potential research directions in the area.

Efficiently finding web services using a clustering semantic approach

Abstract: Efficiently finding Web services on the Web is a challenging issue in service-oriented computing. Currently, UDDI is a standard for publishing and discovery of Web services, and UDDI registries also provide keyword searches for Web services. However, the search functionality is very simple and fails to account for relationships between Web services. Firstly, users are overwhelmed by the huge number of irrelevant returned services. Secondly, the intentions of users and the semantics in Web services are ignored. Inspired by the success of partitioning approach used in the database design, we used a novel clustering semantic algorithm to eliminate irrelevant services with respect to a query. Then we utilized Probabilistic Latent Semantic Analysis (PLSA), a machine learning method, to capture the semantics hidden behind the words in a query, and the descriptions in the services, so that service matching can be carried out at the concept level. This paper reports upon the preliminary experimental evaluation that shows improvements over recall and precision.

Web Services and Service-Oriented Architectures

Abstract: A review of the development of information systems can help in understanding the potential significance of Web services and service-oriented architecture (SOA) in the public sector. SOA involves the convergent design of information systems and organizational workflows at the level of services. The purpose of this chapter is to suggest a strategy for mapping the design of service-oriented architectures onto the complex patterns of governance including combinations of federalism, regionalism, and the outsourcing of functions from government agencies to nonprofit organizations. This involves the modeling of workflows and the identification of opportunities for the sharing of services among agencies and nonprofits. The structures of government agencies reflect political jurisdictions, legislative committee structures, areas of public policy, and geographical locations. Federalism creates situations in which multiple agencies (often at different levels of government) have similar responsibilities in the same geographic areas. Metropolitan areas are complex mosaics of local governments and special districts. In addition, nonprofit organizations are also involved in strategic alliances with government agencies to provide services to citizens. The coordination of efforts among multiple organizations has been one of the major functions of public administrators acting through formal or informal networks of relationships within and across organizational boundaries. Web services and SOA can be used to help integrate the often costly and fragmented delivery of government services.

Model-Based Generation of Testbeds for Web Services

Abstract: A Web Service is commonly not an independent software entity, but plays a role in some business process. Hence, it depends on the services provided by external Web Services, to provide its own service. While developing and testing a Web Service, such external services are not always available, or their usage comes along with unwanted side effects like, e.g., utilization fees or database modifications. We present a model-based approach to generate stubs for Web Services which respect both an extra-functional contract expressed via a Service Level Agreement (SLA), and a functional contract modeled via a state machine. These stubs allow a developer to set up a testbed over the target platform, in which the extra-functional and functional behavior of a Web Service under development can be tested before its publication.

An Early Performance Analysis of Cloud Computing Services for Scientific Computing

Abstract: Cloud Computing is emerging today as a commercial infrastructure that eliminates the need for maintaining expensive computing hardware. Through the use of virtualization, clouds promise to address with the same shared set of physical resources a large user base with different needs. Thus, clouds promise to be for scientists an alternative to clusters, grids, and supercomputers. However, virtualization may induce significant performance penalties for the demanding scientific computing workloads. In this work we present an evaluation of the usefulness of the current cloud computing services for scientific computing. We analyze the performance of the Amazon EC2 platform using micro-benchmarks, kernels, and e-Science workloads. We also compare using long-term traces the performance characteristics and cost models of clouds with those of other platforms accessible to scientists. While clouds are still changing, our results indicate that the current cloud services need an order of magnitude in performance improvement to be useful to the scientific community. Wp 1 http://www.pds.ewi.tudelft.nl/∼iosup/ S. Ostermann et al. Wp Early Cloud Computing EvaluationWp PDS

Integration of Wireless Sensor Network Services into other Home and Industrial networks; using Device Profile for Web Services (DPWS)

Abstract: Wireless sensor networks (WSN) have recently been proposed for a large range of applications in home and industrial automation, and for health and environment monitoring. Especially the ZigBee standard is getting rising attention as it can be used to implement wireless sensor networks, because of its low data rate and low power consumption. Increasingly there is a need to access wireless sensor network services from other IP- based networks. The DPWS has been chosen to implement the integration of the different forms of networking services. DPWS uses web services, XML, WSDL and SOAP protocol to connect various devices and services in home and industrial applications. It allows collaboration and dynamic reconfiguration of network services and devices. This paper will describe our idea of how DPWS can be used to integrate a wireless sensor network into other IP-based networks.