Definition of Service Levels for Electronic Brokerage Applications

Transcription

1 Definition of Service Levels for Electronic Brokerage Applications Ramon Martí, Jaime Delgado Telematic Applications Group Computer Architecture Department Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC) C/Jordi Girona, 1-3, Mòdul D6 E Barcelona (Spain) {ramon, Abstract. This paper presents the definition of different Service Levels for Electronic Brokerage Applications 1. This document is structured in three parts. The first one gives an overview of concepts such as Electronic commerce, Brokerage, Multimedia applications and Quality of service, including the definition of Service levels for different Electronic brokerage applications. The second part presents the specification of all the facilities supported by the different Service levels defined in the first part. The third part presents the MULTIMEDIATOR system, as a case study of Electronic brokerage application, in which the different Service levels are identified. The main conclusions are that four different Service levels reflecting different levels of user requirements can be defined: for Searching brokerage, Products brokerage, Services brokerage and Complex brokerage. 1 Introduction 1.1 Electronic Commerce and Brokerage Electronic commerce is the ability to perform exchanges of goods, services, content, assets and money, between two or more participants (users, organizations) using electronic tools and techniques. Participants, in order to perform electronic commerce, have to be able to navigate, gather, search, filter, deliver, route information, to communicate, to exchange contracts, services and other commerce related objects. The main purpose of brokerage is to allow users (consumers and providers) to be more focused in dealing with information about commercial services in the global electronic market and to focus requests for information towards the pertinent sources. 1 This work has been partly supported by the European Commission (ACTS096) and the Spanish Administration (TIC C02-01).

2 1.2 General Capabilities for Electronic Commerce Four groups, as defined by the Electronic Commerce - Domain Task Force (EC-DTF) Model, from OMG [1], specify the general capabilities for the Electronic Commerce. The first group is Low level electronic commerce services, which includes: Electronic payment: In many forms ; it may involve many different types of payers and payees. Profile (Interchange): Data object provided by a service provider or consumer that describes the service offered or requested. Selection / Negotiation: Selection and configuration of supporting facilities across the set of domains involved in electronic commerce transactions. The second one is Commerce facilities, which supports: Contract: Static contractual perspective of a real-world contract, and dynamic perspective of a contract as an instrument supporting the execution of a set of business processes under a common and potentially dynamically changing policy. Service management: Management of services. Services are the provision of something, from a provider to a consumer, not dealing with exchange. Browser: Desktop framework for presentation and management of components such as services, contracts, certificates and so forth. The third group is Market infrastructure facilities, covering: Catalogue: Structured object that can be inspected, browsed and transferred through the network. It provides an interface to edit catalogue entries. Brokerage: To focus requests for information towards the pertinent sources of information. Agency: Formal access point and public query interface for a player in an electronic marketplace. And the last group are Other facilities, including: Intellectual Property Rights management: Support for the management and administration of IPR including copyright and ownership. 1.3 Multimedia Applications Categories Multimedia applications can be grouped into Interactive and Distribution [2]. Interactive applications include: Multimedia Collaboration: Videoconference, Distance learning, Remote presentation, Audiographics, Videosurveillance. Multimedia Information Retrieval: Video, Image, Document, Data, Videotex. Multimedia Mail: Videomail, Voic , Document mail. Distribution applications include Existing quality TV, High definition TV, Pay TV, Document and image, Audio information, Digital information, Video information.

3 1.4 Service Levels Different Service levels can be defined reflecting different levels of user expectations in Electronic brokerage, each level extending the expectations of the previous one. We specify four Service levels, as follows: Service Level 1: For Searching brokerage Service Level 2: For Products brokerage Service Level 3: For Services brokerage Service Level 4: For Complex brokerage These levels are introduced in the following sections, and their relationship is sketched in Figure 1. Searching Brokerage Products Brokerage Services Brokerage Complex Brokerage Fig. 1. Relationship between Service Levels for Electronic Brokerage. 2 Searching Brokerage Service Level (Level 1) This Service level is oriented to Searching brokerage, where registered users connect to the broker to search for information about Products and/or Services provided by different suppliers through that broker. No collaboration between different brokers is foreseen at this level. Searching brokerage must support Profile (Interchange), Contract, Services management, Browser, Catalogue and Brokerage facilities, as explained in the following sub-sections. Table 1, in section 6, presents a summary including the Electronic commerce facilities and Multimedia applications supported by the Searching brokerage Service Level.

4 2.1 Profile (Interchange) A Profile is required in Searching brokerage as a data object that is provided by a service provider or consumer and describes the service offered or requested. For Searching brokerage, it must be able to add, delete and change information within the profile. It must also be possible to Navigate within the profile by iteration and by searching for types and information. 2.2 Contract The three capabilities of the Contract facility (Convergence, Engagement and Execution) are required in Service level 1. Convergence is required to involve multiple actors in the formation and definition of a contract content, terms and conditions. Engagement is required to support the real-world actions of signing a contract (this should not be interpreted as a requirement for a digital signature). Execution is needed for invoking or enabling a contract. Constraints on execution validity, rules, procedures and termination conditions and events are defined under an execution policy. 2.3 Service Management Services can be considered as processes with a provider and a consumer side. In this Service level, it is necessary to define both Interface and Allowable behavior for each type of participant (consumer, provider or third party). The Consumer interface is required to define the current state of a service, the available operations under that state, and the policy applicable to all participants. The Provider interface is required to define the actions the provider can perform in the course of service delivery and the behavior the provider will maintain. Third-party interface is required to define the operations and behavior of any other party involved in the services. 2.4 Browser Browser is the desktop framework for presentation and management of components. The principal parts that are required in Searching brokerage to provide interface with the registration of service specific extensions are Item, Connect, Inspection and Presentation, navigation and progress. Item is required as a container of address, part type and reference to an access mechanism. Connect is needed to allow a customer / supplier to connect / disconnect. Inspection is required as a common user interface to display, with a consistent look and feel, commerce services from different environments.

5 Presentation, navigation and progress is required as the framework for extension and customization of its presentation, navigational and progress functionality. 2.5 Catalogue This Service level requires the support for catalogue objects and catalogue services: The Catalogue object is required in the Searching Brokerage as a structured object that can be inspected, browsed and transferred through the network. Basic requirements of a Catalogue object for this Service level include: Control over re-ordering, item addition and removal. An interface to reorder, extend, modify and withdraw Catalogue entries is required by this Service level. A formal query interface for static and also dynamic catalogues. The Catalogue service is required for returning a catalogue object. 2.6 Brokerage Brokerage facility for Searching brokerage must support Brokerage policies, Recruiting capabilities and Forwarding capabilities. Establishment of a Brokerage policy is required to indicate things as identity propagation constraints, maximum number of responses, etc. Recruiting capabilities mechanisms with a searching interface is required to support matching between declared consumer interest against a declared provider ability: Consumer must be able to express an interest in something. Providers must be able to express an ability to perform or do something. Forwarding capabilities of the Consumer interests to Suppliers, and Supplier abilities to Customers must be supported by the Broker. 3 Products Brokerage Service Level (Level 2) This Service level is oriented to Products brokerage, where registered users connect to the broker to search for information and to buy Products provided by different suppliers through that broker. No collaboration between different brokers is foreseen. Products brokerage must support all the facilities of the Searching brokerage and additional Electronic payment, Contract, Browser, Catalogue and Brokerage facilities. Some Interactive applications must also be supported, as explained in the following sub-sections. Table 1, in section 6, presents a summary including the Electronic commerce facilities and Multimedia applications supported by the Products brokerage Service Level.

6 3.1 Electronic Payment Electronic payment is needed in Products brokerage to pay the bought products. Electronic payment must include Credit Cards, Debit Cards, Electronic Cash, Micro-payments and Others, including non-monetary payment. The payment life-cycle must support authentication, value transfer or payment issuance, settlement or payment response. It could also support authorization, payment selection, status query, transaction summary, return request / refund / void / credit and cancel. 3.2 Contract Convergence and Engagement capabilities are required in the Products brokerage for Order negotiation and agreement. Convergence must support Order negotiation. This capability allows a customer to negotiate an order to buy a specific product. Engagement must support Order agreement. 3.3 Browser For Products brokerage, Browser facility must support Navigation and Shopping capability. Presentation, navigation and progress part must support for Products Information navigation. Shopping must be supported for different kind of products, as a desktop capability supporting embedding of an order entry facility (based on an contract facility) and an electronic payment resource (based on an payment selection mechanism). 3.4 Catalogue Basic requirements of a catalogue object for Products brokerage include support for means for the explicit and non-reputable association of a catalogue with an agency. 3.5 Intellectual Property Rights Management An Intellectual Property Right (IPR) module is needed to manage the IPR and Security issues in Products brokerage. IPR protection must be applied to the following issues: Assets, corresponding to valued things such the ownership and IPR. Content, corresponding to the physical resources such as a document. Services, enabling the transfer of assets and the distribution of content. It is required to protect the association of IPR, authorship and ownership with content.

7 3.6 Application Interactive Multimedia Information Retrieval is required for Products brokerage. Interactive Multimedia Information Retrieval: Video, Image, Document, Data, Videotex. 4 Services Brokerage Service Level (Level 3) This Service level is oriented to services brokerage, where registered users connect to the broker to search for information and to buy Products and Services provided by different suppliers through that broker. Customers and Suppliers can collaborate. No collaboration between different brokers is foreseen. Products brokerage must support all the facilities of the Products brokerage and additional Contract, Service management and Browser facilities. Some Interactive applications must also be supported, as explained in the following sub-sections. Table 1, in section 6, presents a summary including the Electronic commerce facilities and Multimedia applications supported by the Services brokerage Service Level. 4.1 Contract Convergence and Engagement capabilities are required in the Services brokerage for Service Planning, and Modification agreement. Convergence capabilities in Products brokerage must support Service Planning, including Scheduling, Partial delivery negotiation and Modification negotiation. Engagement capabilities must support Modification agreement. 4.2 Service Management For Services brokerage, Specific Service life-cycle model, Policy model and Participant model must be defined, and interfaces must support Inspection, presentation and monitoring of all the steps in the creation of the service. Specific functional requirements of a Service Management Facility include: Service life-cycle model: The set of possible states that a service may enter and the transition operators available to each participant in any given state. Policy model: A set of conditions agreed by all parties involved in the execution of a service. Participant model: A combination of an identity, a domain, and a role relating the identity to the domain. Specific interfaces must support Inspection, presentation and monitoring of all the steps in the creation of the service.

8 Service inspection, including Meta information, Properties, Life cycle (state description, transition operators, etc.) and Policies inspection must be supported. Service presentation and Service monitoring is also necessary. 4.3 Browser Browser facility must be able to deal with Inspection, Presentation, Navigation and Progress, and Shopping capabilities. Inspection of meta-information must be supported. Presentation, Navigation and Progress is required to control the progress in the creation of the service. Shopping capability must support Partial deliveries and the possibility of Evaluation and Refusal of the partial deliveries and also of the final service. 4.4 Application Customer - supplier real time Interactive Multimedia Collaboration and non-real time Multimedia mail is required for Services brokerage. Interactive Multimedia Collaboration: Videoconference, Remote presentation. Interactive Multimedia Mail: Document mail. 5 Complex Brokerage Service Level (Level 4) This Service level is oriented to Complex brokerage, where registered users connect to the broker to search for information and to buy Products and Services provided by different suppliers through that broker. Customers and Suppliers can collaborate through complex mechanisms. Different brokers can collaborate to provide the Information, Product or Service requested by the user. Complex brokerage must support all the facilities of the Services brokerage and additional Profile (Interchange), Selection / Negotiation, Catalogue and Agency facilities. Some Interactive and Distribution applications must also be supported, as explained in the following sub-sections. Table 1, in section 6, includes a summary with the Electronic commerce facilities and Multimedia applications supported by the Complex brokerage Service Level. 5.1 Profile (Interchange) The following requirements for a profile structure must be supported by Complex Brokerage: The Profile must be general enough to comprise information of any type. It must be able to determine the structure for every type element and the type for every information object within the profile.

9 It must also be able to convert the profile main memory representation into a persistent form and vice versa. The persistent profile representation must be Platform independent and portable. 5.2 Selection / Negotiation The Selection / Negotiation facility is required to support the selection and configuration of supporting facilities across a set of domains for Complex brokerage. This facility must be able to issue and receive specification of requirements. Multiple participants must be able to negotiate on specification content. It must support adaptive disclosure of information based on a business context. Requirements matching and commitment is also necessary. 5.3 Catalogue This Service level requires the support for Subscription service. The Subscription service is required to allow users to subscribe to catalogues. 5.4 Agency Agency facility is required in Complex brokerage as a formal access point and public query interface for a player in an electronic marketplace. This facility must include a standard interface about the agency, returning: The protocol and standardization level of the about interface; The agency name; Agency resources, with a Profile with public certificates and commerce resources; Agency ability with a catalogue of available services or contract templates; Agency policy with the preferred policy in respect to the Agency local facilities. 5.5 Application Interactive Multimedia collaboration, Multimedia mail and distribution must be supported by Complex brokerage. Interactive Multimedia Collaboration: Distance learning, Audiographics, Videosurveillance. Interactive Multimedia Mail: Videomail, Voic . Distribution: Existing quality TV, High definition TV, Pay TV, Document and image, Audio information, Digital information, Video information.

10 6 Service Levels Summary Table 1 presents the Electronic commerce facilities and Multimedia applications supported by the four Service Levels, indicating which are the same as the previous level ( = ) and which are extended ( + ). Level 1 / Searching Level 2 / Products Level 3 / Services Level 4 / Complex Electronic payment + = = Profile (Interchange) + = = + Selection / Negotiation + Contract = Service management + = + = Browser = Catalogue + + = + Brokerage + = = = Agency + IPR management + = = Multimedia Collaboration + + Multimedia Inf. Retrieval + = = Multimedia Mail + + Distribution + Table 1. Electronic commerce facilities and Multimedia applications supported by Service Levels 1 (Searching Brokerage), 2 (Products Brokerage), 3 (Services Brokerage) and 4 (Complex Brokerage). 7 Application of Service Levels to a Specific Scenario 7.1 The MULTIMEDIATOR System The Service levels presented in the paper have been validated in a real case, the ACTS MULTIMEDIATOR project (Multimedia Publishing Brokerage Service), that is developing a multimedia brokerage application, as a first step of more complex Electronic Commerce applications. The key target of the project is multimedia publishing industry, where multimedia publications developers, the Customers, may need to buy products and services, from the Suppliers, to produce their electronic publications. A basic model for brokerage has been implemented [3], allowing Customers to easily negotiate with a Broker Machine (BM) the multimedia product or service they want from the Suppliers, who, in turn, receive orders from the BM and

11 deliver products and services to it. For this purpose, a database containing information on products and services to sell is included in the BM. Suppliers are responsible for keeping up to date the information on that database. In MULTIMEDIATOR, the communication is always between the users site and the BM. Three access mechanisms are provided: WWW-based forms, Interactive Multimedia collaboration, and DFR (Document Filing and Retrieval) database based [4]. The project started in September 1995, and finished in March More information can be found in [5] and [6]. 7.2 Service Levels Since the MULTIMEDIATOR system provides products and services brokerage, it can be considered a system offering Service level 3 service. Low level electronic commerce services include: Electronic payment: The MULTIMEDIATOR Broker Machine supports Electronic payment, that is managed by the Broker Machine. Profile (Interchange): Profile information is stored in the Broker Machine and information can be added, deleted and changed. Commerce facilities include: Contract: The MULTIMEDIATOR system supports Convergence, Engagement and Execution for User registration, Order negotiation and Partial delivery modification and agreement negotiation. Service management: Consumer, Provider and Broker Machine Interfaces are defined, supporting service life-cycle model, Policy model and Participant model. Service inspection, presentation and monitoring are also supported. Browser: Inspection, Presentation, Navigation and Progress, and Shopping is supported through HTML forms and a Broker Machine information Navigator. Market infrastructure services include: Catalogue: Catalogue object and service is supported through a DFR store and HTML pages and forms managed by the Broker Machine. Brokerage: Recruiting and Forwarding capabilities are supported by the MULTIMEDIATOR Broker Machine. Others: IPR management: IPR Management and protection is included in the MULTIMEDIATOR system. The MULTIMEDIATOR system supports the following Interactive applications: Multimedia Collaboration: Audioconference, Remote presentation. Multimedia Information Retrieval: Video, Image, Document, Data. Multimedia Mail: Document mail.

12 8 Conclusions Quality of Service depends on user expectations in the different facilities, that is, the applications provided by the system. Four different Service levels reflecting different levels of user expectations can be defined: Service Level 1: For Searching brokerage. Users search for information about Products and/or Services provided by different suppliers. Service Level 2: For Products brokerage. Users search for information and buy Products provided by different suppliers. Service Level 3: For Services brokerage. Users search for information and buy Products and Services provided by different suppliers. Customers and Suppliers can collaborate. Service Level 4: For Complex brokerage. Customers and Suppliers can collaborate through complex mechanisms. Different brokers can collaborate to provide the Information, Product or Service requested by the user. The MULTIMEDIATOR System, as a case study successfully finished, can be considered a system offering Electronic Brokerage Service level 3: Low level electronic commerce services: Electronic payment. Commerce facilities: Contract, Service management and Browser. Market infrastructure services: Catalogue and Brokerage. Others: IPR and Whiteboard. Interactive applications: some of the Multimedia Collaboration Multimedia Information Retrieval and Multimedia Mail. 9 References 1. Electronic Commerce - DTF Reference Model (draft). OMG Electronic Commerce Domain Task Force, Multimedia Communications Quality of Service. Part I: Framework. Multimedia Communications Forum, June Gallego I., Delgado J. and Acebrón J.J.: Distributed Models for Brokerage on Electronic Commerce, International IFIP Working Conference Trends in Electronic Commerce (TREC 98). 3-5 June 1998, Hamburg (Germany). 4. Acebrón J.J. and Delgado J.: Electronic brokers as intermediaries for electronic publishing, ICCC/IFIP 2 nd Conference on Electronic Publishing April 1998, Budapest (Hungary). 5. Martí R., Delgado J.: Use of WWW Technology for Client / Server Applications in MULTIMEDIATOR. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, Intelligence in Services and Networks: Technology for cooperative Competition, IS&N 97 proceedings. Springer- Verlag, MULTIMEDIATOR Web Page,