Grace A. Lewis

The Landscape of Service-Oriented Systems: A Research Perspective

Service orientation has been touted as one of the most important technologies for designing, implementing and deploying large scale service provision software systems. In this position paper we attempt to investigate an initial classification of challenge areas related to service orientation and service-oriented systems. We start by organizing the research issues related to service orientation in three general categories- business, engineering and operations, plus a set of cross-cutting concerns across domain. We further propose the notion of Service Strategy as a binding model for these three categories. Finally, concluding this position paper, we outline a set of emerging opportunities to be used for further discussion.

Service-Oriented Migration and Reuse Technique (SMART)

This report describes the service-oriented migration and reuse technique (SMART). SMART is a technique that helps organizations analyze legacy systems to determine whether their functionality, or subsets of it, can be reasonably exposed as services in a service-oriented architecture (SOA), and thus to achieve greater interoperability. Converting legacy components to services allows systems to remain largely unchanged while exposing functionality to a large number of clients through well-defined service interfaces. A number of organizations are adopting this approach by defining SOAs that include a set of infrastructure common services on which organizations can build additional domain services or applications. SMART considers the specific interactions that will be required by the target SOA and any changes that must be made to the legacy components. An early version of SMART was applied with good success to assist a DoD organization in evaluating the potential for converting components of an existing system into services that would run in a new and tightly constrained SOA environment

The Role of Cloudlets in Hostile Environments

The convergence of mobile computing and cloud computing is predicated on a reliable, high-bandwidth end-to-end network. This basic requirement is hard to guarantee in hostile environments such as military operations and disaster recovery. In this article, the authors examine how VM-based cloudlets that are located in close proximity to associated mobile devices can overcome this challenge. This article is part of a special issue on the edge of the cloud.

Role of Standards in Cloud-Computing Interoperability

In cloud computing, interoperability typically refers to the ability to easily move workloads and data from one cloud provider to another or between private and public clouds. A common tactic for enabling interoperability is the use of open standards, so there is currently a large amount of active work in standards development for the Cloud. This paper explores the role of standards in cloud-computing interoperability. It covers standard-related efforts, discusses several cloud interoperability use cases, and provides some recommendations for moving forward with cloud-computing adoption regardless of the maturity of standards for the cloud.

Analyzing the reuse potential of migrating legacy components to a service-oriented architecture

An effective way of leveraging the value of legacy systems is to expose their functionality, or subsets of it, as services. In the business world, this has become a very popular approach because it allows underlying systems to remain largely unchanged, while exposing functionality to a larger number of clients through well-defined service interfaces. The U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) is also adopting this approach by defining service-oriented architectures (SOAs) that include a set of infrastructure common services on which organizations can build additional domain services or applications. When legacy systems or components are to be used as the foundation for domain services, there must be an analysis of how to convert the functionality in existing systems into services. This analysis should consider the specific interactions that is required by the SOA and any changes that need to be made to the legacy components. We have recently helped an organization evaluate the potential for converting components of an existing system into services that would run in a new and tightly constrained DoD SOA environment. This paper describes the process that was used and outlines several issues that need to be addressed in making similar migrations

A Framework for Roles for Development, Evolution and Maintenance of SOA-Based Systems

Development, evolution and maintenance of SOA-based systems demands rethinking of the traditional roles for performing these activities. The key objective of this paper is to present preliminary ideas on the roles required for developing, evolving and maintaining SOA-based systems and to suggest a framework for areas of needed research.

Service-Oriented Architecture and its implications for software maintenance and evolution

It is clear that service-oriented architecture (SOA) is having a substantial impact on the way software systems are developed. According to a 2007 Gartner Group report, 50% of new mission-critical operational applications and business processes were designed in 2007 around SOA, and that number will be more than 80% by 2010. This means that as service-oriented systems are deployed and legacy systems are migrated to this environment, a main concern is now their maintenance and evolution. This paper provides an overview of SOA concepts, best practices for implementation of service-oriented systems, the implications that SOA environments have on software maintenance and evolution activities, and finally some research challenges for the software maintenance and evolution research community.

A research agenda for service-oriented architecture

Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA) is having a significant impact on the way software systems are developed. Organizations as diverse as banks, health care providers, and government organizations are focusing on SOA as a way to reach a previously unachievable level of interoperability among systems and agility within business practices.

The Impact of Mobile Multimedia Applications on Data Center Consolidation

The convergence of mobile computing and cloud computing enables new multimedia applications that are both resource-intensive and interaction-intensive. For these applications, end-to-end network bandwidth and latency matter greatly when cloud resources are used to augment the computational power and battery life of a mobile device. We first present quantitative evidence that this crucial design consideration to meet interactive performance criteria limits data center consolidation. We then describe an architectural solution that is a seamless extension of todays cloud computing infrastructure.

Situated Software: Concepts, Motivation, Technology, and the Future

Situated software, a type of opportunistic software, is created by a small subset of users to fulfill a specific purpose. For example, business users have been creating situated software through mashups, which combine data from multiple sources on internal systems or the Internet. Situated software can change the way users access, perceive, and consume information, and can allow users to finally focus on what to do with information, rather than where to find it or how to get to it. However, situated software also has limitations. This article identifies situated softwares role, provides examples of its use, traces the Internets role in its rapid evolution, outlines areas where it is appropriate, describes its limitations, and presents enablers for adopting situated software in an enterprise.