SOAdapt: a process reference model for developing adaptable service-based applications

Context: The loose coupling of services and Service-Based Applications (SBAs) have made them the ideal platform for context-based run-time adaptation. There has been a lot of research into implementation techniques for adapting SBAs, without much effort focused on the software process required to guide the adaptation. Objective: This thesis aims to bridge that gap by providing an empirically grounded software process model that can be used by software practitioners who want to build adaptable SBAs. The process model will focus only on the adaptation specific issues. Method: The process model presented in this thesis is based on data collected through industrial expert opinion and two case studies. The complete study involved 20 practitioners occupying various roles within 14 different companies. The data was analyzed using qualitative data analysis techniques. The output was used to develop a set of activities, tasks, stakeholders and artifacts that were used to construct the process model. The model was evaluated by means an academic expert opinion based survey where 10 academic experts provided their feedback on the model’s process attributes. Results: The outcome of the data analysis process was a process model identifying nine sets of adaptation process attributes. These can be used in conjunction with an organisation’s existing development life-cycle or another reference life-cycle. Conclusion: SOAdapt, the process model developed in this thesis, provides a solid reference for practitioners who are planning to develop adaptable SBAs. It has advantages over similar approaches in that it focuses on software process rather than the specific adaptation mechanism implementation techniques.