SOA Modeling Patterns for Service-Oriented Discovery and Analysis

Part III. SERVICE-ORIENTED CATEGORIZATION PATTERNS

The practice of cataloging and organizing services in a distinct order that is meaningful to an organization or project is beneficial to business and technology institutions. This process is about grouping associated services by a common denominator, theme, or attribute that identifies the purpose of their existence and their contribution to related solutions. Moreover, the categorization exercise is devised not only to bring discipline to the service-oriented discovery and analysis venture but also to enable efficient service inventory management, whereby service capabilities are recognized, indexed, and registered.

There are two major driving motivations behind pursuing the service-oriented categorization process: the difficulty in selecting the right service for a solution and the challenge of reusing existing service offerings to alleviate an organizational concern. The former pertains to focusing on the problem and the mission by discovering a service that meets business or technical requirements. It relates to identifying service capabilities that can provide a remedy to a concern, verify its offered specialties, and confirm its functionality. Boosting service reusability rates is another driving motivation that encourages practitioners to embark on a service categorization effort. It entails diversifying service sources that can participate in providing a solution, such as employing existing legacy services, utilizing service ...