A Service Lifecycle and Information Model for Service-Oriented Architectures

Service-oriented architectures (SOA) are a promising approach for structuring business information systems.Advantages are interoperability through standardization and adaptability of IT infrastructure to changes in business processes. Successful maintenance of a SOA does not only need technical but also organizational measures. In this paper, we present a process model and an information model for supporting the service lifecycle in a SOA. The process model describes phases and organizational roles of a service lifecycle. It has been designed to particularly support service reuse and service evolution. The information model provides the basis for service management and governance - it can be seen as the heart of the SOA of a given company. The presented models have been developed for a company in the financial sector, but can be used in any company with similar organizational constraints.