Managing interaction concerns in Web-service systems

Web services dramatically increase the reach of E-business. A homogeneous model that spans internal as well as external resources enables uniform solutions to complex business problems. Yet, the complexity of Web-service-based systems increases exponentially with their scope. Separation of crosscutting concerns and active management of aspects are fundamental in Web-service-based solutions. In this paper, we first introduce Web services and the concept of business interaction concerns. We then propose a process-oriented approach to the modelling of aspects deriving from crosscutting business concerns. We focus on the dynamic nature of Web-service-based solutions, and the need for adaptive management of aspects. In particular, we propose a technique for the dynamic distribution of aspects across multiple Web-service components. The technique is based on explicit definition of process roles. The proposed approach has been used to build experimental solutions involving dynamic reconfiguration of a Web-service system. We present an application example in the context of supply-chain integration that was prototyped using the DySCo platform (Dynamic e-Service Composer).