Semantic cloud community framework for services provision

Abstract

Cloud computing represents an evolution paradigm that enables information technology (IT) capabilities to be delivered “as a service”. In the last decade number of cloud-based services has grown intensely and rapidly. The diversification of cloud service providers has generated the diversification of their offers. Therefore, end-users face a huge challenge while choosing the appropriate cloud provider. Furthermore, the battle for dominance between the big vendors, like Amazon, Google and Salesforce, makes them reluctant to agree on widely accepted standards promoting their own incompatible formats, thus increases the lock-in effect and affects the competition. Interoperability is the missing element that will recover this situation and allows switch between cloud providers whenever needed without setting data and applications at risk. In this paper, we present an approach that will help strengthen semantic and technical interoperability of services. The approach presents a Cloud Community that acts as a broker to mediate between service providers and service consumers based on web ontology language OWLS. This concept would enable end users to select the right services and compose services across multiple Clouds. It would, also, to provide cloud arbitration services that allow users to shift and to choose between existing platforms.