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 an 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.