Modularization of Software as a Service Products: A Case Study of the Configuration Management Tool Puppet

With the increasing adoption of business models and technologies related to cloud computing, the business of software as a service is a growing market. Distributed computing environments with multiple hosts often require complex configuration. In order to increase operational efficiency, configuration management tools use the concept of modules, which decrease repetition in the work of system operators. These tools can be combined with ERP systems to automate the order-to-cash processes for production of software as a service products using bill of materials to represent the products in the ERP systems. In this research, the configuration management tool Puppet is studied to investigate how the concept of bill of materials maps to the module concept of Puppet by using the examples of two Puppet modules for Hadoop and Open Stack. The usage of Puppet modules in ERP system controlled and automated order-to-cash processes for complex software as a service products such as Hadoop and Open Stack can be validated, but areas of future work are also identified.