Method of operating a service

An architecture for an service which operates over a computer network which has an customer and an vendor which negotiate during a contract formation phase of a transaction and in which a product or service is supplied to the customer during a contract execution phase of the transaction, there being an customer interface between the customer and the network to enable messages transmitted on the network according to a network protocol to be utilised by the customer and to enable messages originating from the customer to be transmitted onto the network according to the network protocol, and an vendor interface between the vendor and the network to enable messages transmitted on the network according to a network protocol to be utilised by the vendor and to enable messages originating from the vendor to be transmitted onto the network according to the network protocol, and wherein each of the customer and vendor interfaces has a first and second sub-interface, the first sub-interface enabling messages relating to the contract formation phase of a transaction to be transmitted onto the network and utilised by the respective customer or vendor and the second sub-interface enabling messages relating to the contract execution phase of a transaction to be transmitted onto the network and utilised by the respective customer or vendor.

An interface for a service which operates over a computer network and which has an customer and an vendor which negotiate during a contract formation phase of a transaction and in which a product or service is supplied to the customer during a contract execution phase of the transaction, the interface being either an customer interface between the customer and the network to enable messages transmitted on the network according to a network protocol to be utilised by the customer and to enable messages originating from the customer to be transmitted onto the network according to the network protocol, or an vendor interface between the vendor and the network to enable messages transmitted on the network according to a network protocol to be utilised by the vendor and to enable messages originating from the vendor to be transmitted onto the network according to the network protocol, and wherein the interface has first and second sub-interfaces, the first sub-interface enabling messages relating to the contract formation phase of a transaction to be transmitted onto the network and utilised by the respective customer or buyer and the second sub-interface enabling messages relating to the contract execution phase of a transaction to be transmitted onto the network and utilised by the respective customer or buyer.

A network protocol for a service which operates over a computer network which has an customer and an vendor which negotiate during a contract formation phase of a transaction and in which a product or service is supplied to the customer during a contract execution phase of the transaction, the network protocol differentiating messages relating to contract formation and contract execution phases of the transaction and enabling messages relating to the contract formation phase of the transaction transmitted onto the network by the customer or vendor to be differentiated by an interface of and utilised by the respective vendor or customer.