An Architectural Model for Service-Based Flexible Software

The need to change software easily to meet evolving business requirements is urgent, and a radical shift is required in the development of software, with a more demand-centric view leading to software which will be delivered as a service, within the framework of an open marketplace. We describe a service architecture and its rationale, in which components may be bound instantly, just at the time they are needed and then the binding may be disengaged. This allows highly flexible software services to be evolved in “internet time”. The paper focuses on early results: some of the aims have been demonstrated and amplified through an experimental implementation based on e-Speak, an existing and available technology. It is concluded that technology such as e-Speak provides a useful infrastructure and has enabled us rapidly to demonstrate the basic operation and viability of our approach.