Methodologies for Design of Service-Based Systems - Intentional Perspectives on Information Systems Engineering - page 301

Methodologies for Design of Service-Based
Systems

Barbara Pernici

Abstract The methodological approaches to service design have started from
extensions of conventional design methodologies and are moving towards more
specific methods, which consider the complete service life cycle and the flexibility
and adaptivity which are inherent in the use of services. In this chapter we dis-
cuss how an intentional perspective in service design can be helpful to increase the
link between requirements and service construction and to make the development
process more systematic.

1 Introduction

The service-oriented approach provides a basis to (re)design business processes for
improving business competiveness [ 1] . In fact, the service-based approach allows
developing flexible applications, in which services are composed dynamically to
satisfy business goals, taking into account the variability of the context in which
services are executed.
Adaptation in the service-oriented paradigm is one of the keywords for real-
izing flexible services. Adaptation support has been proposed in service-oriented
platforms, as a way to support an easier integration of business processes and of
existing systems and to provide more flexible and value-added services. Adaptation
in services allows varying service execution or service compositions in a process
depending on the state of the component services, of the service composition, and
of the external context, which might include variable user requirements and variable
infrastructural conditions.