Increased flexibility and dynamics in distributed applications and processes through resource decoupling

Continuously increasing complexity of products and services requires more and more specialised expertise as well as a relevant support by specialised IT tools and services. However, these services require expert knowledge as well, particularly in order to apply and use these services and tools in an efficient and optimal way. To this end, two applications fields have to be distinguished: There is the need to integrate human experts within the respective product engineering process, but also to support these experts with complex services for their specific expertise domain. Domain experts are characterised by having an explicit, profound knowledge within their domain. However, these domain experts typically do not have the required knowledge to apply and execute specialised services and IT environments in a target-oriented and efficient way. For example, a doctor is not expected to have profound knowledge in the operation of high performance computing environments as well as the applied simulation environments. Expert doctors have a profound knowledge in a specific field of expertise (domain), e.g. in cancellous bone implants, which they like to provide in a computer-supported way for the benefit of their patients. In this case a doctor could simulate the expected outcome of an operation beforehand, without forcing the patient undergoing a medical intrusion. To this end, the optimal proceeding for the operation and the treatment can be determined in advanced. Obviously a doctor does not have the required IT knowledge to develop, execute and analyse the technical outcome of a simulation. I.e. an infrastructure is required, allowing for the consumption of such services for users not having the required technological knowledge to use these services in an optimal and efficient way. Faster and more dynamic markets require an infrastructure allowing adapting to flexible and continuously changing circumstances. I.e. an infrastructure is required supporting domain experts as well as the service infrastructure to dynamically adapt to changing requirements. In this context Gartner coined the term Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) in 1996 1. The introduced concept follows the proven concept from the electrical engineering domain, which abstracts the service realisation and the service functionality via a technological independent interface. Basically, this proceeding correlates with the paradigm " Programming in the large " and " Programming in the small " , introduced by DeRemer and Kron 2 , decoupling conceptually the service realisation and the respective technology independent service orchestration with high-level process modelling languages. The web service …