Developing Autonomic Management Systems in Federated Environments

Autonomic Systems aim to reduce the costs of operating information and communication technology systems through employing knowledge-driven control loops to ensure that the systems operate within a defined behavioral envelope that conforms to business goals. However, as autonomic system implementations become more flexible and as the business environments within which they operate become more dynamic, with less clearly defined management hierarchies, the definition of appropriate behavioral envelopes becomes increasingly challenging. In this paper we examine the challenges of defining the boundary of competence within which an autonomic system should operate when applied to federated business environments. A systems view is adopted to situate the boundaries of the autonomic system within the broader social technological system in which it operates.