Creating a Repository for the Design and Delivery of Web Services

Existing web service repositories are not well suited to handle the multi-layered representation of web services, nor are they able to support multiple development methodologies. We describe the design and development of a repository called Web Service Crawler that supports both a traditional development methodology for the initial design of services, and an agile approach for the design of composite applications. Web Service Crawler is developed based on a set of theory-based design characteristics, and includes novel facets to represent multi-layered web services, such as workflow, composition, and layer. The positive evaluation results indicate that Web Service Crawler can be used to guide web service designers, as well as enable consumers to more easily find and use services

HOW BENEFITS FROM IS/IT INVESTMENTS ARE SUCCESSFULLY REALIZED: THE ROLE OF BUSINESS PROCESS KNOW HOW AND BENEFITS MANAGEMENT PRACTICES

Although organizations continue to make substantial investments in information systems and information technology (IS/IT), the successful realization of benefits from such investments has consistently been reported as one of the major organizational challenges. From a project perspective, this paper examines whether benefits management (BM) practices can be considered a viable approach to achieve the anticipated benefits. Drawing on resource-based theory (RBT) as well as the BM literature, we derive a structural equation model consisting of eight propositions. These propositions are tested using data collected from 454 projects. Our analysis of the data by means of partial least squares (PLS) finds that BM positively impacts benefits realization success (BRS). Specifically, organizations should acknowledge the importance of (1) benefits analysis, (2) benefits planning, and (3) benefits review when seeking to realize benefits. Furthermore, the findings suggest that benefits analysis is facilitated by the contextual constructs business process knowledge and business/IT communication. We also found a relationship between top management support and the contextual constructs. Collectively, the results have important theoretical and practical implications, as they provide quantitative evidence of how IS/IT investments should be managed to successfully realize benefits. Based on our results, we argue that BM is a basis for the successful realization of benefits. Nevertheless, organizations need to ensure that project teams have sufficient understanding of (1) the IS/IT, (2) the business, and (3) the interaction between IS/IT and the business. The latter is specifically the most challenging and most important competency that a project team can possess. We expect our research to spur organizations to instill a shared understanding of how IS/IT relates to the business and vice versa within their project teams, which will intensify BM’s positive effect on BRS

Supporting A Strategic Business Process Via An IT Service Innovation

To date, there has been limited research on the role of an internal IT service innovation in a strategic business process. An IT service innovation supports organizational business processes and is designed, developed and deployed following the notion of service logic characterized by intangible resources, the co-creation of value, and relationships. We examine the influence of an IT service innovation – an IT-enabled collaboration platform – on collaboration outcomes in the product development process. We develop and test a model that posits that the use of the platform will lead to positive service quality conceptualized as collaboration quality that in turn influences collaboration satisfaction. We conducted a study of a collaboration platform implementation by a major pharmaceutical company (N = 1,746) and found support for our model. Our findings contribute to the literature by providing insights on how employees utilize the capabilities of an IT service innovation in their work processes to achieve desired outcomes

Service-oriented Architecture Projects in Practice: A Study of a Shared Document Service Implementation

Published version of an article in the journal: Procedia Technology. Also available on Science Direct: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.protcy.2014.10.017This paper reports on a case study focusing on service-oriented architecture (SOA) projects in practice. The aim of these projects has been to develop a shared document service supporting different business divisions in a large Norwegian governmental institution. The research question guiding this research is: How are SOA projects carried out in practice? What are the challenges of developing shared services in service-oriented architecture? SOA projects are accompanied by a complex socio-technical system development environment. In the present study we followed parallel system development processes and identified several issues associated with competence requirements, distributed coordination principles and control, lack of communication, tuning of parallel projects, and selection of appropriate project management approaches and system development methods. Clearly, there was a difference between undertaking a system development project within one organizational unit (silo) compared to the development of shared services to provide support across a large organization. Findings demonstrate that the complexity of SOA projects was underestimated by the project managers, and ad hoc governance was practiced in terms of control, coordination, and communication. To capture the entire system development context of an SOA project, a holistic approach and mind-set comprising time management and fine tuning of all parallel SD activities is necessary. Organizational maturity to carry out SOA projects is also of significance. The study has implications for SOA adopters in general and for system developers and project managers working in an SOA context in particular

Automatización de la Reconfiguración Dinámica de Servicios Cloud

[ES] Debido al auge de las tecnologías de cloud computing existe una gran demanda de servicios cloud por lo que el uso de metodologías de desarrollo ágiles es muy habitual. En este tipo de metodologías se promueve el desarrollo incremental del software lo que implica una continua integración de nuevos servicios a los ya existentes, siendo necesarios procesos y herramientas bien definidos que faciliten, y en lo posible, automaticen esta tarea. En este Trabajo de Fin de Grado se sigue una enfoque dirigido por modelos para la generación automática de la orquestación de servicios cloud y también de los scripts necesarios que permitan actualizar los enlaces entre los servicios actuales y los nuevos produciendo por tanto una reconfiguración arquitectónica de los servicios cloud en tiempo de ejecución. El trabajo se ha realizado en el contexto del grupo de investigación ISSI (DSIC-UPV) que cuenta actualmente con el Microsoft Azure Research Award por lo que hará uso de la plataforma Windows Azure© con WCF Workflow para la orquestación de servicios. Esta plataforma emplea archivos XML (eXtensible Markup Language) para su configuración por lo que será además necesario el uso de XDT (XML Document Transform) para poder modificar las configuraciones actuales de la plataforma a las nuevas configuraciones.[EN] With the rise of cloud computing technologies there is a high demand for cloud services so that the use of agile development methodologies is very common. This type of methodologies promotes incremental development which implies a continuous integration of new services to the existing ones. This task requires well-defined processes and tools to facilitate, and where possible to automate this continuous integration. This Final Degree Work follows a model-driven development approach for the automatic generation of the orchestration of cloud services and the necessary scripts for updating the links among the existing and new services thus producing a run-time architectural reconfiguration of cloud services. The work was done in the context of the ISSI research group (DSIC-UPV) that currently holds the Microsoft Azure Research Award so we will use the Windows Azure© platform with the WCF Workflow for service orchestration. This platform uses XML files (eXtensible Markup Language) for its settings so it will be necessary to use XDT (XML Document Transform) to modify the current settings of the platform to the new settings.Cano Genovés, C. (2016). Automatización de la Reconfiguración Dinámica de Servicios Cloud. http://hdl.handle.net/10251/69080.TFG

Um modelo de capacidade e maturidade para melhoria de processo de software para SaaS colaborativo

Tese (doutorado) - Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Centro Tecnológico, Programa de Pós-Graduação em Engenharia de Automação e Sistemas, Florianópolis, 2013.Atualmente, o cenário de desenvolvimento e disponibilização de software se mostra altamente exigente e dinâmico. SaaS (Software-as-a-Service) traz consigo uma série de vantagens que atraem provedores e clientes para tirarem proveito do cloud computing. Esses novos paradigmas permitem (com mais facilidade) a terceirização das soluções de TI e a colaboração entre provedores de serviços de software, tentando buscar novas oportunidades se beneficiando das alianças. As formas como as novas tecnologias e conceitos se relacionam, mudam e surgem, são muito dinâmicas, gerando grande cobrança nas empresas provedoras de serviço de software, para que elas acompanhem essas mudanças. A confiança na contratação dos serviços SaaS é uma necessidade que surge junto a essa mudança de paradigma computacional. Existem diversas frentes que vêem apoiar uma possível resolução deste problema, e uma delas é a adoção de melhoria de processo de software nesses provedores de serviços, cujas premissas da Engenharia de Software já são bastante difundidas, como fazem a norma ISO/IEC 15504 e o CMMI-DEV. Porém, os atuais modelos de referência e normas que norteiam essa necessidade são voltadas para o desenvolvimento de software tradicional, não cobrindo totalmente um ambiente de desenvolvimento SaaS e colaboração. Alguns modelos voltados para serviços também já estão disponíveis, como o CMMI for services e o MPS.br guia geral de serviços, porém, eles apresentam "serviços" como sendo um serviço atendimento ao cliente, e não como serviço de software, como é trazido nesta tese. Com isso, nesta tese de doutorado foi desenvolvido um Modelo de Capacidade e Maturidade para Melhoria de Processo de Software para Software-as-a-Service e para Colaboração. Esse Modelo é um repositório de boas práticas de processos (de desenvolvimento de serviços de software e colaboração), baseados na engenharia de software e princípios de gestão do processo. Ele é organizado em níveis de capacidade e maturidade, projetado para melhorar os processos. Esse Modelo vem oferecer uma possibilidade de adequação às exigências de qualidade para os provedores, oferecendo mais argumentos positivos em sua contratação e potencializando a colaboração entre os provedores. Abstract : Nowadays, the scenario of software development and availability hasshown highly demanding and dynamic. Software-as-a-Service (SaaS)brings a lot of advantages that is attracting providers and customers whoare already familiar with the facility coming from cloud computing.These new paradigms allow (more easily) outsourcing of IT solutionsand collaboration among providers (trying to reach new opportunities tobenefit from alliances). The ways in which this new technologies andconcepts are related, emerge and change are very dynamic, generating ahuge demand to software development providers. Trustworthiness in thehiring of SaaS services is a necessity that comes close to this paradigmshift. There are several options that support this problem, and one ofthem is implement software process improvement of services providers,whose premises the Software Engineering are already known, likeISO/IEC 15504 standard and CMMI-DEV. However, current referencemodels and standards available are geared towards the development oftraditional software, do not completely covering SaaS developmentenvironment. Some models focused to services are available like CMMIfor services and MPS.br general guide for services, but they introducethe term ?service? like a customer service, differently that term softwareservice that is assumed in this thesis. Thus, in this doctoral thesis wasdeveloped a Capability and Maturity Model for Software ProcessImprovement for Collaborative Software-as-a-Service. This Model is arepository of best practices to Services Development Processes (SaaS)and Collaboration. Based on software engineering and managementprinciples of the process, it is organized into capability and maturitylevels, designed to improve processes. This Model can offer a chance toadapt to the quality demands for providers, offering more positivearguments in its hiring and supporting the collaboration among providers

Um modelo de processos de gestão de federações de provedores de serviços de software

Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Centro Tecnológico, Programa de Pós-Graduação em Engenharia de Automação e Sistemas, Florianópolis, 2014.O desenvolvimento das TIs trouxe diversas mudanças na maneira como o software é desenvolvido e distribuído. A computação em nuvem é um dos motivos desta mudança, que propicia a distribuição de software não mais como produto e sim como serviço. Com isso, do ponto de vista de negócios, a necessidade de reuso e integração de serviços ampliou a adesão ao SOA, que facilita a interação dos serviços entre aplicações e empresas. Como grande parte da indústria deste ramo é movimentada pelas MPMEs, uma alternativa para busca do melhor aproveitamento das oportunidades de mercado é através das alianças estratégicas. Diversas abordagens são apresentadas na literatura, uma abordagem clássica bastante comum no contexto da cadeia de suprimentos são os arranjos produtivos locais (APL). Devido aos resultados trazidos pela globalização, as TICs impuseram profundas mudanças nos paradigmas organizacionais, favorecendo o estabelecimento de novas Redes Colaborativas, que são auxiliadas pela internet. Dentre as várias redes que existem com diferentes características e desdobramentos, o Ambiente de Criação de organizações Virtuais (ACV) busca facilitar o processo de criação de Organizações Virtuais (OVs) e sua finalidade é proporcionar uma aliança temporária para aproveitar uma oportunidade de negócios. Neste contexto é necessário tratar da gestão dessa colaboração, ou seja, saber o que fazer para colaborar e como manter essa colaboração. Para apoiar essa tarefa, nesta dissertação de mestrado foi desenvolvido um modelo de gestão de uma Federação de Provedores de Serviços de Software, para as empresas trabalharem colaborativamente a fim de prover serviços de software de maior valor agregado. Este modelo apresenta a gestão da Federação em diversos processos, de modo a enquadrar todos os requisitos necessários a sua manutenção. Os processos foram classificados conforme o ciclo de vida da Federação, e suas definições e objetivos foram também descritos. Para avaliar o modelo, houve uma interação com um grupo de especialistas através de um survey, cujo feedback atesta a relevância deste trabalho e a completude do modelo.Abstract : The IT development brought several changes in the way how software is developed and distributed. The cloud computing is one of the reasons of it by supporting the software distribution not as a product anymore, but as a service. In this way, at the business point of view, the need of software reuse and integration has increased the SOA adoption, which supports service interaction between applications and enterprises. Since most of the industry in this area is moved by SMEs, an alternative in order to better take the business opportunities is through strategic alliances. Several approaches are presented in the literature, a classical one very usual in the supply chain context are local productive arrangements. Due to the results brought by the globalization, the ICTs have imposed deeply changes into the organizational paradigms, it beneficiates the establishment of new Collaborative Networks, which is supported by the internet. Among various existent networks with distinct characteristics and endeavors, the Virtual Breeding Environment (VBE) seeks to assist the process of creation of Virtual Organizations (VOs) and your purpose is to provide a temporary alliance in order to take advantage of a business opportunity. In this regard it is necessary to deal with the management of collaboration, in other words, to know what to do to collaborate and how to maintain it. In order to support it, in this master?s thesis it was developed a model of management of a Federation of Software Service Providers, so that the enterprises work collaboratively to provide software service with higher value. This model presents the management of the Federation into processes, in a way to fit all the requirements needed to its maintenance. The processes were classified according to the Federation?s lifecycle, and its definitions and purposes were also described. To evaluate the model, there was an interaction with an expert group through a survey, whose feedback certifies the relevance of this work and the completeness of the model

SOA2Cloud: Un marco de trabajo para la migración de aplicaciones SOA a Cloud siguiendo una aproximación dirigida por modelos

[EN] Software applications are currently considered an element essential and indispensable in all business activities, for example, information exchange and social network. Nevertheless, for their construction and deployment to use all the resources that are available in remote and accessible locations on the network, which leads to inefficient operations in development and deployment, and enormous costs in the acquisition of IT equipment. The present master thesis aims to contribute to the improvement of the previous context proposing SOA2Cloud, a framework for migration of applications based on SOA to Cloud environments, making use Model-Driven Software Development approach. SOA2Cloud aims to provide mechanisms for the migration of SOA applications specified through the OMG SoaML standard, incorporating the service level agreements (SLA) to Cloud Computing environments. The framework proposed to makes to use a SOA application model, defined to conform to SoaML metamodel, and a model of service level agreements defined according to SLA generic metamodelo, to generation a model according to Cloud metamodel, through models transformations. This generated model, over again to model transformation, for obtaining the model Azure platform, according to their generic metamodel built for this research work. At the conclusion model transformations, the obtained model over again a model to text transformation to obtain the source code, and thus be tested and deployed in the platform selected for this research Azure work. This proposal is based on a comprehensive study of the state of the art, made by conducting a systematic mapping, about strategies for migrating applications SOA to Cloud Computing environments. The results contributed in a meaningful way in the definition of the process of migration in the framework. Finally, an example of application that shows the feasibility of our approach was developed. This example demonstrates in detail as the framework for migrating applications proposed SOA to Cloud environments. The results show that our proposal may allow improving the strategy mainly used by researchers and professionals in the area to perform migrations of SOA applications into Cloud environments. This will be through our proposed migration framework which exploits the benefits of Model-Driven Software Development.[ES] Las aplicaciones software son consideradas actualmente un elemento esencial e indispensable en toda actividad empresarial, por ejemplo, intercambio de información y motor de redes sociales. Sin embargo, para su construcción y despliegue se utilizan todos los recursos que estén disponibles en ubicaciones remotas y accesibles de la red, lo que conlleva a realizar operaciones ineficientes en el desarrollo y despliegue, y enormes gastos en la adquisición de equipos de TI. La presente tesina de máster pretende contribuir a la mejora del contexto anterior proponiendo SOA2Cloud, un marco de trabajo para la migración de aplicaciones basadas en SOA a entornos Cloud, haciendo uso de la aproximación del Desarrollo de Software Dirigido por Modelos (DSDM). SOA2Cloud tiene la finalidad de proporcionar mecanismos para la migración de aplicaciones SOA especificadas a través del estándar SoaML de la OMG, incorporando los Acuerdos de Nivel de Servicios (SLA) a entornos Cloud Computing. El marco de trabajo propuesto hace uso de un modelo de la aplicación SOA, definido conforme a SoaML, y un modelo de acuerdos de servicios definido conforme a un metamodelo genérico de SLA para la generación de un modelo conforme a un metamodelo para aplicaciones Cloud, a través de transformaciones de modelos. Este modelo generado, es sometido a una nueva transformación de modelos, para la obtención del modelo de la plataforma Azure, conforme a su metamodelo genérico construido para este trabajo de investigación. Una vez concluidas las transformaciones de modelos, el modelo obtenido es sometido a una transformación de modelo a texto para la obtención del código fuente, y de esta forma ser testeado y desplegado en la plataforma seleccionada para este trabajo de investigación Windows Azure. Esta propuesta se apoya en un amplio estudio del estado del arte, realizado mediante la conducción de un mapeo sistemático, acerca de las estrategias de migración de aplicaciones SOA a entornos Cloud Computing. Los resultados obtenidos aportaron de una forma significativa en la definición del proceso de migración en el marco de trabajo. Finalmente, se desarrolló un ejemplo de aplicación que muestra la viabilidad de nuestro enfoque. Este ejemplo muestra en detalle como el marco de trabajo para la migración de aplicaciones SOA a entornos Cloud propuesto. Los resultados muestran que nuestra propuesta permitiría mejorar el enfoque de algunos investigadores y profesionales del área al realizar migraciones de aplicaciones SOA a entornos Cloud, haciéndolas a través de este marco de trabajo que aprovecha los beneficios del Desarrollo de Software Dirigido por Modelos.Botto Tobar, MÁ. (2014). SOA2Cloud: Un marco de trabajo para la migración de aplicaciones SOA a Cloud siguiendo una aproximación dirigida por modelos. http://hdl.handle.net/10251/47834Archivo delegad

Governance of Cloud-hosted Web Applications

Cloud computing has revolutionized the way developers implement and deploy applications. By running applications on large-scale compute infrastructures and programming platforms that are remotely accessible as utility services, cloud computing provides scalability, high availability, and increased user productivity.Despite the advantages inherent to the cloud computing model, it has also given rise to several software management and maintenance issues. Specifically, cloud platforms do not enforce developer best practices, and other administrative requirements when deploying applications. Cloud platforms also do not facilitate establishing service level objectives (SLOs) on application performance, which are necessary to ensure reliable and consistent operation of applications. Moreover, cloud platforms do not provide adequate support to monitor the performance of deployed applications, and conduct root cause analysis when an application exhibits a performance anomaly.We employ governance as a methodology to address the above mentioned issues prevalent in cloud platforms. We devise novel governance solutions that achieve administrative conformance, developer best practices, and performance SLOs in the cloud via policy enforcement, SLO prediction, performance anomaly detection and root cause analysis. The proposed solutions are fully automated, and built into the cloud platforms as cloud-native features thereby precluding the application developers from having to implement similar features by themselves. We evaluate our methodology using real world cloud platforms, and show that our solutions are highly effective and efficient