Method and system for improving the selection of services in a service exchange environment

• US 8,478,660 B2
• Filed: 05/19/2011
• Issued: 07/02/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 05/19/2011
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Telefonica SA
• Original Assignee: Telefonica SA
• Inventors: Toro Escudero, Maria Aranzazu, Garcia Gomez, Sergio
• Primary Examiner(s): ALLEN, WILLIAM J
• Application Number:
  US13/111,218
• Publication Number:
  US 20120296755A1
• Time in Patent Office: 775 Days
• Field of Search: 705/7.11, 705/7.29, 705 736- 742, 705 261- 272
• US Class Current: 705/26.41
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/00 Commerce

Abstract

A method and a system for improving the selection of a group of services, in an exchange services environment, by a user of a telecommunication network. The following steps are comprised by the invention: defining a first set of requirements in a selection criteria manager module to be fulfilled by the services; performing a search among all services available, according to services functionalities defined in a service catalog and matching the first set of requirements; discarding services which do not fulfilled the first set of requirements; defining a second set of requirements in the selection criteria manager module, the second set of requirements indicates user preferences; assigning weights to the services taking into account the second set of requirements, data from an historical information module of previous selections of the user, data from a profile of the user with previous preferences; arranging all service combination according to the weights obtained, being the first one an optimal selection; storing the selection of the user at the historical information module.

Claims

1. A method of improving a selection of a plurality of services in an exchange services environment by a user of a telecommunication network, the method comprising the steps of:

(a) defining a first set of requirements in a selection criteria manager module to be fulfilled by the plurality of services;

(b) searching among the plurality of services, according to services functionalities defined in a service catalog and matching the first set of requirements;

(c) discarding services which do not fulfill the first set of requirements;

(d) defining a second set of requirements in the selection criteria manager module, the second set of requirements indicating user preferences;

(e) assigning, by a processor, weights to services meeting the second set of requirements, the weights taking into account the second set of requirements, data from an historical information module of previous selections by the user, and data from a profile of the first user with previous user preferences;

(f) arranging, by a processor, all service combinations according to the weights obtained, the first service combination being the most optimal selection;

(g) storing the selection of the user at the historical information module; and

(h) checking information about a service level agreement made between the user and the service provider relating to the plurality of services available in the exchange services environment, the agreement including violations of the service level agreement.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein step (e) is performed using a Analytic Hierarchy Process based algorithm.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein step (e) is performed by considering user feedback about the plurality of services.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein step (b) is performed using semantic descriptions.

5. The method according to claim 1, further comprising a step of

checking a quality of service of each of the plurality of services available in the exchange services environment.

6. The method according to claim 1, wherein the first and second requirements defined in the selection criteria manager are selected from a functionality required by the user;

a preferred number of components;

a service required price;

a quality of service; and

service statistics.

7. The method according to claim 1, wherein the exchange services environment is an electronic marketplace.

8. A system comprising:

a processor, the processor executing a program code adapted to perform the steps comprising

(a) defining a first set of requirements in a selection criteria manager module to be fulfilled by the plurality of services;

(b) searching among the plurality of services, according to services functionalities defined in a service catalog and matching the first set of requirements;

(c) discarding services which do not fulfill the first set of requirements;

(d) defining a second set of requirements in the selection criteria manager module, the second set of requirements indicating user preferences;

(e) assigning weights to services meeting the second set of requirements, the weights taking into account the second set of requirements, data from an historical information module of previous selections by the user, and data from a profile of the first user with previous user preferences;

(f) arranging all service combinations according to the weights obtained, the first service combination being the most optimal selection;

(g) storing the selection of the user at the historical information module; and

(h) checking information about a service level agreement made between the user and the service provider relating to the plurality of services available in the exchange services environment, the agreement including violations of the service level agreement.

9. A non-transitory computer readable medium storing a program code which, when executed by a processor, is adapted to perform the steps comprising:

(a) defining a first set of requirements in a selection criteria manager module to be fulfilled by the plurality of services;

(b) searching among the plurality of services, according to services functionalities defined in a service catalog and matching the first set of requirements;

(c) discarding services which do not fulfill the first set of requirements;

(d) defining a second set of requirements in the selection criteria manager module, the second set of requirements indicating user preferences;

(e) assigning weights to services meeting the second set of requirements, the weights taking into account the second set of requirements, data from an historical information module of previous selections by the user, and data from a profile of the first user with previous user preferences;

(f) arranging all service combinations according to the weights obtained, the first service combination being the most optimal selection;

(g) storing the selection of the user at the historical information module; and

(h) checking information about a service level agreement made between the user and the service provider relating to the plurality of services available in the exchange services environment, the agreement including violations of the service level agreement.

10. A method of improving a selection of a plurality of services in an exchange services environment by a first user of a telecommunication network, the method comprising the steps of:

(a) defining a first set of requirements in a selection criteria manager module to be fulfilled by the plurality of services;

(b) searching among the plurality of services, according to services functionalities defined in a service catalog and matching the first set of requirements;

(c) discarding services which do not fulfill the first set of requirements;

(d) defining a second set of requirements in the selection criteria manager module, the second set of requirements indicating user preferences;

(e) assigning, by a processor, weights to services meeting the second set of requirements, the weights taking into account the second set of requirements, data from an historical information module of previous selections by the first user, and data from a profile of the first user with previous user preferences;

(f) arranging, by a processor, all service combinations according to the weights obtained, the first service combination being the most optimal selection;

(g) storing the selection of the user at the historical information module; and

wherein the first user is a service provider selecting services to be added to a plurality of user-provided services provided by the service provider to offer a composed service to a second user,

further comprising the step of

checking information regarding income generated by each service and a share of the income that is received by the service provider in the composed service.

11. The method according to claim 10, wherein the first and second requirements defined in the selection criteria manager for the service provider are selected from a composed service level agreement;

a total price margin for the composed service provider; and

a composed service revenue share.