Service broker for service-oriented architecture

Abstract

A method for brokering a cloud service comprises receiving a request for a service and identifying parameters from the request. Further, a set of vendors who may satisfy the parameters of the requested service is identified. An invitation to respond based on the parameters is transmitted to the set of vendors. Responses including an estimation regarding the parameters are received from the vendors, and confidence levels that the vendors will meet the estimations are calculated based on an objective service history of the specific services. The responses and confidence levels are presented to the requester, and the service history is updated based on parameter results once the service has completed.

1 - 20 . (canceled) 
     
     
         21 . A method comprising:
 receiving, by a computer system from a requester, a request for a cloud service;   utilizing, by the computer system, one or more custom tags to identify one or more parameters from the request, wherein the one or more parameters relate to performance of the cloud service;   based on the identified parameters, inviting, by the computer system, a set of vendors that are capable of performing the cloud service to send a respective response to the request;   receiving, by the computer system, a respective response from a subset of the set of vendors, the received responses including a respective estimation associated with the one or more parameters;   for each of the received responses, determining, by the computer system, a corresponding confidence level estimating a confidence that the vendor sending the respective response will meet their respective estimations, wherein a given confidence level is based on a service history corresponding to a given vendor;   sending, by the computer system, the received responses and the corresponding confidence levels to the requester;   receiving, by the computer system, an identity of a selected vendor and corresponding results of the cloud service, wherein the results are based on the estimations included in the received response from the selected vendor; and   updating, by the computer system, the service history of the selected vendor, wherein the service history is updated based on the corresponding results of the cloud service.   
     
     
         22 . The method of  claim 21 , wherein inviting the set of vendors comprises including, by the computer system, a subset of information associated with the one or more parameters. 
     
     
         23 . The method of  claim 21 , wherein sending the received responses and the corresponding confidence levels to the requester comprises:
 compiling, by the computer system, an ordered list of the received responses, wherein an order is based on relative priorities of the one or more parameters; and   sending the ordered list to the requester.   
     
     
         24 . The method of  claim 23 , wherein the relative priorities are received by the computer system in the request from the requester. 
     
     
         25 . The method of  claim 21 , wherein receiving the identity of the selected vendor and the corresponding results of the cloud service comprises:
 receiving the results from the selected vendor; and   verifying, by the computer system, the received results with the requester.   
     
     
         26 . The method of  claim 21 , wherein inviting, based on the identified parameters, the set of vendors that are capable of performing the cloud service comprises identifying, by the computer system, the set of vendors from a list of vendors, wherein the list is maintained by the computer system. 
     
     
         27 . The method of  claim 21 , further comprising:
 receiving, by the computer system from the requester, the identity of the selected vendor; and   brokering a service-level agreement between the requester and the selected vendor.   
     
     
         28 . The method of  claim 21 , wherein inviting the set of vendors comprises including, by the computer system, a time limit for sending the respective response. 
     
     
         29 . A non-transitory, computer-readable medium storing instructions that, when executed by a computer system, cause the computer system to perform operations comprising:
 receiving, from a requester, a request for a cloud service;   identifying one or more parameters from one or more custom tags that are included in the request, wherein the one or more parameters relate to performance of the cloud service;   based on the identified parameters, sending a respective invitation to a set of vendors that are capable of performing the cloud service to respond to the request;   receiving a respective response from a subset of the set of vendors, the received responses including a respective estimation associated with the one or more parameters;   based on a service history corresponding to a given vendor, determining a corresponding confidence level for each of the received responses, the confidence level estimating a confidence that the vendor sending the respective response will meet their respective estimations; and   sending the received responses and the corresponding confidence levels to the requester.   
     
     
         30 . The computer-readable medium of  claim 29 , further comprising:
 receiving an identity of a selected vendor and corresponding results of the cloud service, wherein the results are based on the estimations included in the received response from the selected vendor; and   updating the service history of the selected vendor, wherein the service history is updated based on the corresponding results of the cloud service.   
     
     
         31 . The computer-readable medium of  claim 30 , wherein receiving the identity of the selected vendor and the corresponding results of the cloud service comprises:
 receiving the results from the selected vendor; and   verifying the received results with the requester.   
     
     
         32 . The computer-readable medium of  claim 29 , wherein sending the received responses and the corresponding confidence levels to the requester comprises:
 compiling an ordered list of the received responses, wherein an order is based on relative priorities of the one or more parameters; and   sending the ordered list to the requester.   
     
     
         33 . The computer-readable medium of  claim 32 , wherein the relative priorities are received by the computer system from the requester. 
     
     
         34 . The computer-readable medium of  claim 29 , wherein inviting, based on the identified parameters, the set of vendors that are capable of performing the cloud service comprises identifying the set of vendors from a list of vendors, wherein the list is maintained by the computer system. 
     
     
         35 . A method comprising:
 maintaining, by a computer system, a list of vendors, the list including a catalog of services provided by respective vendors in the list;   maintaining, by the computer system, a service history for a subset of the vendors in the list, wherein the subset includes the vendors for which performance feedback has been received;   receiving, by the computer system from a requester, a request for a cloud service, the request including one or more tags identifying one or more parameters related to performance of the cloud service;   using the list of vendors, inviting, by the computer system, a set of vendors that are capable of performing the requested cloud service to send a respective response to the request;   receiving, by the computer system, a response from a particular vendor of the set of vendors, the received response including an estimation for satisfying the one or more parameters;   using the service history, determining, by the computer system, a corresponding confidence level estimating a confidence that the particular vendor sending the response will meet the estimation; and   presenting, by the computer system to the requester, the estimation from the particular vendor and the confidence level.   
     
     
         36 . The method of  claim 35 , further comprising updating the service history for the particular vendor based on results of the particular vendor satisfying the one or more parameters. 
     
     
         37 . The method of  claim 36 , further comprising receiving, by the computer system, the results from the requester. 
     
     
         38 . The method of  claim 36 , further comprising:
 receiving, by the computer system, the results from the particular vendor; and   verifying, by the computer system, the received results with the requester.   
     
     
         39 . The method of  claim 36 , further comprising monitoring, by the computer system, results by the particular vendor in satisfying the one or more parameters. 
     
     
         40 . The method of  claim 35 , wherein determining the confidence level comprises determining a confidence value corresponding to each of the one or more parameters.