E-services

Abstract: An extensive literature research in the fields of IT and business science reveals that service-related terms as service and e-service have multiple interpretations within business science, information science and computer science, resulting in confusion. These three communities take part in the multi-disciplinary process of realizing e-Commerce scenarios for services. Each community has its own role in e-service offering, and uses its own terminology. In this paper we analyze the different perspectives that these three communities have on the online service provisioning concept. We introduce different meanings of service-related terms in the three communities, and use a real-world case study to show how all three perspectives and terminologies need to be joined with each other for the realization of collaborative e-Commerce scenarios for service offerings on the Semantic Web.An extensive literature research in the fields of IT and business science reveals that service-related terms as service and e-service have multiple interpretations within business science, information science and computer science, resulting in confusion. These three communities take part in the multi-disciplinary process of realizing e-Commerce scenarios for services. Each community has its own role in e-service offering, and uses its own terminology. In this paper we analyze the different perspectives that these three communities have on the online service provisioning concept. We introduce different meanings of service-related terms in the three communities, and use a real-world case study to show how all three perspectives and terminologies need to be joined with each other for the realization of collaborative e-Commerce scenarios for service offerings on the Semantic Web.

Abstract: In the traditional application model, services are tightly coupled with the processes they support. For example, whenever a server’s process changes, existing clients using that process must also be updated. However, electronic commerce is moving toward e-service based interactions, where corporate enterprises use e-services to interact with each other dynamically, and a service in one enterprise could spontaneously decide to engage a service fronted by another enterprise. We clarify here the relationship between currently developing standards such as UDDI, WSDL, and WSCL, and propose a conversation controller mechanism that leverages such standards to direct services in their conversations. We can thus treat services as pools of methods, independent of the conversations they support. Even method names can be decided on independently of the conversations. Services can spontaneously discover each other and then engage in complicated interactions without the services themselves having to explicitly support conversational logic. The dynamism and flexibility enabled by this decoupling is the essential difference between applications offered over the web and e-services.

Abstract: Advancements in information and communication technologies have created unprecedented opportunities to services providers in both developing and developed countries. The service sector represents one of the fastest growing areas of exports in the global trade. The Internet and e‐commerce make it possible to sell a variety of services, ranging from airline tickets to financial services, from anywhere in the world, around the clock. International delivery of services through electronic means is creating value in the supply chain by the reduction of many of the barriers to entry. This paper focuses on the determinants influencing the diffusion and export of e‐services across borders. The paper also presents strategic challenges, followed by implications for service providers.