ITE Arbitrator: A Reference Architecture Framework for Sustainable IT Ecosystems

Abstract

As new IT systems and devices pervade all aspects of human routines, several new paradigms have recognized groups of IT systems as forming an ecosystem. As a result, the term “IT ecosystem” has been coined. Each individual system participating in an IT ecosystem has, to a varying degree, autonomy. The ultimate goal of participating systems is to satisfy the global goal of the entire IT ecosystem in which they are participating. In order to maintain autonomy and controllability over an IT ecosystem through environmental changes, orchestration strategies must be invented and implemented. In this paper, we propose a reference orchestration architecture framework, which we call ITE Arbitrator, to support IT ecosystems in accomplishing the goals of individual participant systems while simultaneously achieving system-wide goals. ITE Arbitrator provides a mechanism to decide on an adaptation strategy with an optimal configuration of available systems to satisfy local constraints while achieving its global goal. We use the detailed simulation example of an unmanned forest management IT ecosystem to show how the proposed framework orchestrates inter-system interaction against environmental changes and sustains stable service.