A Classification Scheme for Characterizing Service Networks

This paper introduces an extended definition of service networks. The service network definition, which can be used for classifying service networks, comprises two parts: the service network declaration and the service network specification. The service network specification consists of the specification of the network characteristics, the node characteristics, and the link characteristics. Each of these three characteristics comprises a set of criteria. One fraction of the criteria has been identified through literature research on services, networked organizations, and service network concepts. The remaining fraction of criteria is the result of a case study analysis. The service network case study has been taken from the information technology sector (i.e., the network of Cloud computing services). The analysis of the case study identified characteristics that are important for describing IT service networks but cannot be captured with the existing definitions of service networks.