Model transformation services for MSaaS platforms

The development of complex systems may take advantage by the introduction of Modeling & Simulation (M&S) based analysis techniques from the early stages of the system lifecycle. However, M&S approaches typically require significant know-how and effort, as well as remarkable resources to setup and maintain proper execution platforms. Such issues can be tackled by use of automated approaches based on model transformation, which reduce the simulation model building effort, and by the M&S as a Service (MSaaS) paradigm, which brings the benefits of service-oriented architectures and cloud computing into the M&S field, so to reduce the costs of M&S efforts. In this paper, we show how MSaaS platforms can be effectively extended by introducing model transformation services, with specific application to the M&S-based analysis of complex systems specified by use of SysML. The paper also describes a catalog of currently available model transformation services, in order to show how the proposed MSaaS platform may ease the introduction of M&S approaches at any stage of the system development cycle.