Overview of an Architecture Enabling Grid Based Application Service Provision

In this short paper we examine the integration of three emerging trends in Information Technology (Utility Computing, Grid Computing, and Web Services) into a new Computing paradigm (Grid-based Application Service Provision) that is taking place in the context the European research project GRASP. In the first part of the paper, we explain how the integration of emerging trends can support enterprises in creating competitive advantage. In the second part, we summarise an architecture blueprint of Grid-based Application Service Provision (GRASP), which enables a new technology-driven business paradigm on top of such integration. 1 From Application Service Provision to Utility Computing Application Service Provision (ASP) is a business model, originally derived from the idea to use the Internet or other wide area networks to provide online application services on a rental basis-commercially delivering computing as a service. As indicated in [1], [2], one can distinguish two different types of ASPs: the ”traditional” ASP and the Internet Business Service Provider (IBSP also referred to as the ”network-centric” ASP). In contrast to traditional ASPs, providing application services that are Internet-enabled by design, IBSPs build their applications instead of adapting the source code of their applications via changes in the configuration of the application rather than changing the source code of its components. IBSPs therefore move closer to building their businesses on a utility model than traditional ASPs. Utility computing presents a paradigm where shared infrastructure can be provided on demand to multiple customers [3]. It describes a system that lets companies pay for IT services as needed. Beside the technological developments that enable utility computing as a paradigm for ASPs also new business interaction models and fine-grained accounting models for utility computing getting possible. 2 Grid Services: an enabling technology The following sections will assume as background knowledge: the basic principles of the Service Oriented Architecture paradigm, the Open Grid Service Architecture [4] and