Providing on-demand access to services in a wide area network

Abstract

An integration services network is described which is operable to facilitate access to a composite service by a plurality of users having associated client machines. Each of the users is associated with one of a plurality of independent enterprises. At least one data store has a directory stored therein which maps an identity for each of the users to a policy framework which defines access information relating to a plurality of services. At least one computing device is operable to set up the composite service by integrating operation of the plurality of services. The plurality of services are associated with and controlled by a plurality of independent service providers.

We claim: 
     
         1 . A method of facilitating access to a composite service on a network, the method comprising:
 receiving, from a computing device on the network, a request to initiate an instance of the composite service;   referencing a directory storing access policy information for constituent services having operations integrated by the composite service, the constituent services being associated with and controlled by a plurality of independent service providers;   using the access policy information to establish access to the constituent services; and   enabling a user of the computing device to access the composite service as an integrated solution in which the composite service facilitates messaging between or among the constituent services.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , the method further comprising:
 receiving, from the computing device, a selection of a business application including the composite service; and   receiving a statement of record for the selected business application, the statement of record containing initial information for use with the selected business application, the network disseminating at least some portion of the statement of record to one or more of the constituent services.   
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , the method further comprising:
 receiving enterprise identity information relating to a first independent enterprise, the network disseminating at least some of the enterprise identity information to at least some of the constituent services.   
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 3 , the method further comprising:
 receiving user identity information relating to a user associated with the first independent enterprise, the network disseminating at least some of the user identity information to the constituent services.   
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , the method further comprising:
 providing a user's computing device administration information relating to an execution of composite services available in a business application selection interface, the administration information corresponding to one or more roles associated with the user of the administration interface.   
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 5 , wherein the administration information comprises information selected from a group consisting of: diagnostic reporting information, composite service configuration information, enterprise identity information, user identity information, and historical information relating to previously-executed composite services. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein one or more of the composite services communicates with the network via a public network. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the selected composite service is a pre-defined business solution selected from a group consisting of: an eCommerce solution, a customer relationship management (CRM) solution, and a human resource (HR) management solution. 
     
     
         9 . A network for facilitating access to a composite service by a plurality of users having associated client machines, the network comprising at least one computing device that runs code to:
 receive, from a computing device on the network, a request to initiate an instance of the composite service;   reference a directory storing access policy information for constituent services having operations integrated by the composite service, the constituent services being associated with and controlled by a plurality of independent service providers;   use the access policy information to establish access to the constituent services; and   enable a user of the computing device to access the composite service as an integrated solution in which the composite service facilitates messaging between or among the constituent services.   
     
     
         10 . The network of  claim 9 , wherein the at least one computing device further runs the code to:
 receive, from the computing device, a selection of a business application including the composite service; and   receive a statement of record for the selected business application, the statement of record containing initial information for use with the selected business application, the network disseminating at least some portion of the statement of record to one or more of the constituent services.   
     
     
         11 . The network of  claim 11 , wherein the at least one computing device further run the code to:
 receive enterprise identity information relating to a first independent enterprise, the network disseminating at least some of the enterprise identity information to at least some of the constituent services.   
     
     
         12 . The network of  claim 11 , wherein the at least one computing device further runs the code to:
 receive user identity information relating to a user associated with the first independent enterprise, the network disseminating at least some of the user identity information to the constituent services.   
     
     
         13 . The network of  claim 12 , the at least one computing device further runs the code to:
 provide a user, administration information relating to an execution of composite services available in a business application selection interface, the administration information corresponding to one or more roles associated with the user of the administration interface.   
     
     
         14 . The network of  claim 13 , wherein the administration information comprises information selected from a group consisting of: diagnostic reporting information, composite service configuration information, enterprise identity information, user identity information, and historical information relating to previously-executed composite services. 
     
     
         15 . The network of  claim 9 , wherein one or more of the interfaces to the computing device are accessible via a toolbar installed on a web browser, the toolbar providing a single sign-on to the composite services. 
     
     
         16 . The network of  claim 9 , further comprising:
 at least one data store having a directory stored therein which maps an identity for each of the users to a policy framework which defines access information relating to the plurality of services.   
     
     
         17 . The network of  claim 9 , wherein one or more of the composite services communicates with the network via a public network. 
     
     
         18 . The network of  claim 9 , wherein the selected composite service is a pre-defined business solution selected from a group consisting of: an eCommerce solution, a customer relationship management (CRM) solution, and a human resource (HR) management solution. 
     
     
         19 . A computer program product comprising at least one non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing instructions for facilitating access to a plurality of composite services, the instructions comprising:
 first instructions for receiving, from a computing device on a network, a request to initiate an instance of a composite service;   second instructions for referencing a directory storing access policy information for constituent services having operations integrated by the composite service, the constituent services being associated with and controlled by a plurality of independent service providers;   third instructions for using the access policy information to establish access to the constituent services; and   fourth instructions for enabling a user of the computing device to access the composite service as an integrated solution in which the composite service facilitates messaging between or among the constituent services.   
     
     
         20 . The computer program product of  claim 19 , further comprising:
 fifth instructions for receiving, from the computing device, a selection of a business application including the composite service;   sixth instructions for receiving a statement of record for the selected business application, the statement of record containing initial information for use with the selected business application, the network disseminating at least some portion of the statement of record to one or more of the constituent services.   
     
     
         21 . The computer program product of  claim 19 , further comprising:
 fifth instructions for receiving enterprise identity information relating to a first independent enterprise, the network disseminating at least some of the enterprise identity information to at least some of the constituent services.   
     
     
         22 . The computer program product of  claim 19 , further comprising:
 fifth instructions for receiving user identity information relating to a user associated with the first independent enterprise, the network disseminating at least some of the user identity information to the constituent services.   
     
     
         23 . The computer program product of  claim 19 , further comprising:
 fifth instructions for providing a user's computing device administration information relating to an execution of composite services available in a business application selection interface, the administration information corresponding to one or more roles associated with the user of the administration interface.