An Extended SOA Model for Customer-Centric E-Commerce

A SOA provides a framework for the expression of business operations as modular and composable "services" over distributed environments. In this paper we adopt the end customerpsilas perspective on value composition and propose a conceptual framework for an extended SOA model that allows for customer-centric e-commerce. The extended SOA model inserts at the top of the typical SOA model two layers that introduce the customer logic for the composition of products and services into complete solutions that meet customer needs. Hence, the underlying business logic of a SOA is merged with the customer logic; additionally, business processes, as reflected in service compositions, are associated with their outputs in terms of products and services and, accordingly, the needs of the end customer. The paper indicates the need for and explains the key benefits from the proposed framework for an extended SOA model, analyzes its structure, characteristics and key concepts, describes the requirements for its development and outlines its potential uses in e-commerce.