HP Labs Technical Reports

eFlow: a Platform for Developing and Managing Composite e-Services

Casati, Fabio; Ilnicki, Ski; Jin, Li-Jie; Krishnamoorthy, Vasudev; Shan, Ming-Chien

HPL-2000-36

Keyword(s): workflow; service composition; adaptive; dynamic change

Abstract: Today, companies are using the Web to connect with their back-end systems and perform e-commerce transactions. The next chapter of the Internet story is the evolution of today's access/content focused portals into e-services hubs. While many traditional services become available on the Internet as e- services, almost all of them are single point services. In order to offer higher value, end-to-end services, it should be possible to compose, customize, and deploy e-services in a very flexible and efficient way. To support e-service delivery, we have developed a platform, called eFlow, that provides the service developer with a simple, easy to use, yet powerful mechanism for defining the composite service starting from basic services. Composite services can be preassembled or created on the fly, and can dynamically adapt to changes in the business environment, such as the introduction of new basic services. In addition, eFlow includes components that allow users to monitor, analyze, and modify a service while in execution.

8 Pages

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