A Framework for Creating and Managing Virtual Organizations in a Distributed Environment Using SOA Infrastructure
In this research, we propose a framework to create and manage virtual organizations (VO) in a distributed environment based on service oriented infrastructure. The proposed framework enables networks of organizations to form virtual workflows based on their software infrastructures, and share and monitor their performance metrics without the need for a central authority. An abstraction layer for services (service zone) will enable organizations to share their designated services with other partners while keeping their own core competency private to themselves. The proposed solution will be applied to a network of organizations in healthcare systems with interactions between hospitals, laboratories, insurance companies and government agencies. As the IBM is one of the major providers of Service Oriented Architecture based solutions offering a wide range of B2B solutions to organizations, the proposed framework in this research will help IBM to extend their B2B solutions to handle automated agile virtual organizations. By employing the proposed framework, the IBM can extend and customize their products to better support the creation and management of Virtual Organization in a dynamic global world .