Considerations of service assembly based on the analysis of data flows between services

Service composition research mostly focuses on the dynamic (workflow) aspects of compositions. In this paper we consider the static component of service composition and focus on analyzing the data flows between services within a composition. We argue that compatibility of service interfaces is a necessary precondition for service composability, and we show that data flow analysis can be applied to the problem of service composition design to identify compatible service interfaces and to minimize data coupling between services. © 2008 IEEE

Design of composable services

Service composition methods range from industry standard approaches based on Web Services and BPEL to Semantic Web approaches that rely on AI techniques to automate service discovery and composition. Service composition research mostly focuses on the dynamic (workflow) aspects of compositions. In this paper we consider the static component of service composition and discuss the importance of compatibility of service interfaces in ensuring the composability of services. Using a flight booking scenario example we show that reducing the granularity of services by decomposition into service operations with normalized interfaces produces compatible interfaces that facilitate service assembly. We then show how relational algebra can be used to represent service operations and provide a framework for service assembly. © 2009 Springer Berlin Heidelberg

Using data replication techniques to maintain data consistency in supply chain applications

Supply chain applications typically involve sharing of large amounts of information across a number of partner organizations. Examples of supply chain applications are common in manufacturing, healthcare and global trade. Such applications can involve a large number of partners in different locations with various levels of connectivity, ranging from high-speed Internet to unreliable and slow dial-up connections. Maintaining data consistency in supply chain applications is an essential requirement as the loss of data consistency results in poor quality and unreliable information. Current supply chain applications mostly rely on EDI (Electronic Data Interchange) or similar electronic messaging standards to ship data between partner organizations. In general, little attention is paid to ensuring that data remains consistent as it is propagated and updated along the supply chain. In this paper we first discuss the requirements for data consistency in supply chain applications and then briefly describe a data consistency management framework based on data replication. We use Freight Forwarding and Customs Brokerage (FFCB) applications examples to illustrate our discussion

Service Development Life Cycle for Hybrid Cloud Environments

With increasing adoption of cloud computing there is a need to provide methodological and tool support for the development of enterprise applications that utilize cloud services. Traditional approaches that assume that services are developed and deployed on-premise are not suitable for hybrid cloud environments, where a significant part of enterprise applications is delivered in the form of cloud services provided by autonomous cloud providers. In this paper we describe a Service Development Life Cycle for hybrid cloud environments and a prototype system designed to support this life cycle

SOA: Trends and Directions

While many organizations have adopted SOA there are recent indications that not all organizations are willing to make substantial investments in new skills and technologies required for the transition to SOA in the current economic climate. The recent emergence of Cloud Computing is continuing the trend of delivering enterprise applications and IT infrastructure in the form of externally sourced services, providing an alternative to on-premise solutions. The convergence of Cloud Computing and Web 2.0 is redefining the very basis on which the computer industry has operated for decades, challenging some of the basic SOA assumptions and principles. In this paper we discuss the synergies between the above technology trends and consider the likely impact of these trends on enterprise computing

Service repository for cloud service consumer life cycle management

© IFIP International Federation for Information Processing 2015. With rapid uptake of various types of cloud services many organizations are facing issues arising from their dependence on externally provided cloud services. In order to enable operation in this rapidly evolving environment, end user organizations need new methods and tools that support entire life-cycle of cloud services from the perspective of service consumers. Service repositories play a key role in supporting service consumer SDLC (Systems Development Life-Cycle) maintaining information that is used during the various life-cycle phases. In this paper we briefly describe service consumer SDLC and propose a design of service repository that supports information requirements throughout the service life-cycle

Itinerary planner: A mashup case study

The wide adoption of Web Services and the availability of web APIs are transforming the web into a programmatic environment for developing innovative web applications that combine information from various sources to provide a rich user experience. These mashup applications are characterized by rapid development using existing data sources and the use of new technologies such as AJAX, JSON, etc. Developers often focus on delivering rich functionality via the browser environment and pay little attention to the design and maintainability of the applications. In this paper we describe our experience in developing an Itinerary Planner travel application, and discuss the challenges associated with developing mashups. In the conclusion, we briefly discuss the lessons learned in addressing these challenges and how these lessons can be applied to future mashup projects. © 2009 Springer Berlin Heidelberg