Managing service specifications and the discovery of associated services

A computer program storage product for matching service specifications in a service-oriented environment, the computer program storage product comprising instructions configured to perform a method comprising:

• analyzing a registry of service specifications;
• identifying, based on the analyzing, a first set of service specifications associated with requested services and a second set of service specifications associated with available services, wherein each service specification in the first and second sets of service specifications comprises a service label, wherein information within each of the service labels has been previously agreed upon by two or more users in a community of users, and wherein each service label comprises at least one of a service type and a set of terms characterizing a service;
• comparing the service labels of the first set of service specifications with the service labels of the second set of service specifications;
• and
• identifying at least one service specification in the first set of service specifications that matches at least one service specification in the second set of service specifications based on comparing the services labels thereof.

A computer program storage product for discovering services in a service-oriented environment, the computer program storage product comprising instructions configured to perform a method comprising:

• receiving, from a user in a community of users, a request for a service, wherein the request comprises a first service specification;
• identifying, from a registry of service specifications, at least a second service specification, wherein the second service specification is associated with at least one available service,
• wherein the first service specification comprises a first service label and the second service specification comprises a second service label, wherein information within each of the first and second service labels has been previously agreed upon by two or more users in the community of users, and wherein each of the first and second service labels comprises at least one of a service type and a set of terms characterizing a service;
• comparing the first service label with the second service label;
• determining, based on the comparing, that the first service label matches the second service label;
• and
• satisfying, based on the determining, the request with the available service associated with the second service specification.

A system for managing service labels for association with service specifications in a service-oriented environment, the system comprising:

• a memory;
• a processor;
• and
• a service label manager communicatively coupled to the memory and the processor, wherein the service label is configured to perform a method comprising:
• receiving at least one candidate service label from a user, wherein the candidate service label comprises at least one of a service type and a set of terms characterizing a service;
• sending the candidate service label to a community of users;
• receiving, based on the sending, one of a vote for accepting the candidate service label and a vote for rejecting the candidate service label from each of a plurality of users in the community of users;
• and
• based on a number of votes being above a given threshold, one of
• storing the candidate service label as an accepted service label associated with the community of users;
• and
• rejecting the candidate service label.