Service Registry Design: An Information Service Approach

A service registry is a Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA) component that keeps a ‘catalogue’ of available services. It stores service specifications so that these specifications can be found by potential users. Discussions on the design of service registries currently focus on technical issues, while service registries should take into consideration information needs of business domain users. In this regard, the authors consider service registries as information services and develop a comprehensive framework for designing service registries. This framework introduces aspects that determine a design space for service registries. In this design space, the authors identify views, requirements, processes, and means in the design of a service registry that supports the lifecycle information of a service. A vital part of these requirements is further implemented and demonstrated in a prototype built as a ‘proof-of-concept’ for the framework. This paper also discusses a case study used to evaluate the prototype. In this case study, a registry prototype has been populated with realistic services of a large insurance company, and 21 experienced IT and business professionals from a consultancy organization evaluated the prototype for its user satisfaction.