A Framework for classifying and comparing Web services procurement platforms

The procurement of Web services (WSP) shifts the focus of architects and integrators front functional to quality-of-service (QoS) aspects. A number of platforms have been proposed as supporting infrastructures to assist WSP activities. Notwithstanding, there is a lack of consensus on: (i) what expressiveness degree in QoS specifications should be offered; and (ii) what activities should be supported by these platforms. This paper attempts to provide an answer to both questions, thus it motivates and presents a classification framework for WSP platforms. This framework is used to compare several existing platforms and to identify some key properties and deficiencies, which might be considered as a research agenda for the future.