Framework for building a low-cost, scalable, and secured platform for Web-delivered business services
Many business services are now being delivered over the Web. This method of delivery is attracting the attention of both small- and medium-sized businesses and providers of application-based services because of its easier access, more affordable fees, and greater efficiency in delivering services to massive numbers of receivers. However, it requires the resolution of several key technical challenges. Data security is of top priority for most users because their data reside on remote servers whose resources are shared among tenants. In addition, such a platform needs to meticulously control the operational and delivery costs so that it remains competitive compared with traditional approaches. We have been developing a low-cost, scalable, and secured platform for Web-delivered business services. The platform enables the delivery of business services over the Web with a set of common business and operational support services, including subscription management, massive multitenancy, federated identity management, Web application security protection, and more. For instance, massive multitenancy deals with the isolation of data and service performance for subscribers. In this paper, we discuss the framework for such a platform, the key challenges for realizing the framework, and the approaches for dealing with the challenges.