Database schema design for a web services supply chain manager: Requirements and proposed infrastructure

Web services enable the commoditization of computer code components for distributed system execution in cross-organizational platforms via the Internet. At any point in time, the state of a set of composite applications and the web services they are consuming constitutes an instance of a new type of dynamic software supply chain. Proper management of what we refer to as this "web services supply chain" requires seamlessly integrated and automated B2B relationships with responsibilities for procurement, performance monitoring, benchmarking, cost allocation and ongoing relationship maintenance requiring new hybrid organizational infrastructure constructs. To cope with the increased complexity of managing this dynamic supply chain, we elaborate requirements and propose an exemplar database schema design with web-scripts as a means for pre-specifying and monitoring organizationally approved patterns of web service invocations. The database research challenges associated with long-running transactions are discussed in our schema design, including reflections of the realities associated with web-script failure, variable quality-of-service (QoS) levels, the share-ability of web-scripts between organizational business processes, the need for continuous updating of web-scripts by agents (human or automated), and the scalability of designs to accommodate evolutionary change.