Multi-Dimensional Service Compositions

The wide diffusion of reliable Internet is pushing two key novelties in the conception of modern software applications: the Software as a Service paradigm and the idea of the Internet of Things. Traditionally services and things have been considered as separate entities, even addressing different needs and application domains. In contrast, we feel that services and things should be integrated and demand for proper design and programming paradigms that ease the task of system builders and enable reuse of components through various systems. Furthermore, we also see the need to take into account the many cross-cutting issues that are typical of any complex application (e.g., security, user interface, transactionality). We suggest multi-dimensional service assembly as the right abstraction for taking into account all these different aspects. In this paper we sketch our ideas, discuss the implications of multi-dimensional service assembly, and draft a research agenda that goes towards the development of a well established theory in this area.