Guiding the Service Engineering Process: The Importance of Service Aspects

Service-oriented System engineering (SOSE) and traditional software engineering mainly differ for their focus and aims. These differences are reflected by a number of aspects peculiar to SOSE (service aspects). In this paper we specifically discuss three service aspects: the relevance of cross-organizational collaboration, increased importance of the identification of stakeholders, and the need for increased effort at run-/change time. We argue that SOSE methodologies provide better guidance on their application when service aspects are emphasized in associated process models. By highlighting the three service aspects in a process model of the methodology defined in a large European project, we show specifically how each aspect provides guidance for engineering service-oriented systems in practice.