A framework for classifying and comparing web services procurement platforms

The procurement of web services (WSP) shifts the focus of architects and integrators from functional to quality-of-service (QoS) aspects. A number of platforms have been proposed as supporting infrastructures to assist WSP activities. Notwithstanding, there is a lack of consensus on (i) what expressiveness degree in QoS specifications should be offered, and (ii) what activities should be supported by these platforms. This paper attempts to provide an answer to both questions, thus it motivates and presents a classification framework for WSP platforms. This framework is used to compare several existing platforms and to identify some key properties and deficiencies, which might be considered as a research agenda for the future.