Service contracts and aggregate utility functions

Utility functions are used by clients of a service to communicate the value of a piece of work and other QoS aspects such as its timely completion. However, utility functions on individual work items do not capture how important it is to complete all or part of a batch of items; for this purpose, a higher-level construct is required. We propose a multi-job aggregate-utility function, and show how a service provider that executes jobs on rented resources can use it to drive admission control and job scheduling decisions. Using a profit-seeking approach to its policies, we find that the service provider can cope gracefully with client overload and varying resource availability. The result is significantly greater value delivered to clients, and higher profit (net value) generated for the service provider