A service-oriented algebra for optimizing the management of service requests

The Work-as-a-Service (WaaS) paradigm models work engagements as compositions of service requests, with the intention of separating the work coordination and enactment. In this chapter we present a definition of the WaaS conceptual meta-model a WaaS protocol, based on algebraic ideas from the area of business artifacts, that enables work decomposition, delegation, control, and enactment. The metamodel supports management and coordination during planning and enactment of work. The essential part is a coordination lifecycle, consisting of loosely coupled milestones, domain-specific information attributes, and sets of abstract observable activities to be performed. The presented service-oriented algebra consists of operations for coordination lifecycles when encapsulated service requests are torn, merged, paused, and resumed. The meta-model and protocol presented in this chapter are independent from the specific coordination enactment model which may employ centralized coordination, fully distributed coordination, or other models of coordination between requestors and providers under various optimization objectives.