Web service interfaces for inter-organisational business processes an infrastructure for automated reconciliation

• Main Authors: Piccinelli, G., Emmerich, W., Zirpins, C., Schutt, K.
• Format: Conference Proceeding
• Language: English
• Subjects: Application software; Automation; Companies; Computer science; Consumer electronics; Educational institutions; Information systems; Laboratories; Prototypes; Web services
• DOI: 10.1109/EDOC.2002.1137717

For the majority of front-end e-business systems, the assumption of a coherent and homogeneous set of interfaces is highly unrealistic. Problems start in the back-end, with systems characterised by a heterogeneous mix of applications and business processes. Integration can be complex and expensive, as systems evolve more in accordance with business needs than with technical architectures. E-business systems are faced with the challenge to give a coherent image of a diversified reality. Web services make business interfaces more efficient, but effectiveness is a business requirement of at least comparable importance. We propose a technique for automatic reconciliation of the Web service interfaces involved in inter-organisational business processes. The working assumption is that the Web service front-end of each company is represented by a set of WSDL and WSCL interfaces. The result of our reconciliation method is a common interface that all the parties can effectively enforce. Indications are also given on ways to adapt individual interfaces to the common one. The technique was embodied in a prototype that we also present.