Task as a Service: Extending Cloud from an Application Development Platform to a Tasking Platform

Abstract

This paper coins the term "Tasking" and defines a "Tasking Conceptual Model" as a software engineering approach. In this approach, instead of producing Apps as a runtime artifact whole for its users, software developers produce intermediary artifacts, as accessible controls parts for average users. Using these controls, users are enabled to construct their own tasks autonomously by using resources of their own choice from across the cloud. I propose using web tasking over the cloud as a tasking approach to provide (1) average users consistent and universal tasking experience across the cloud despite of the resource diversity, and also, to provide (2) developers prescriptive, standard-ready software engineering steps to produce and contribute web-tasking resources. This proposed approach also provides (3) built-in interoperability. Users can use web-tasking resources produced by independent parties and expect that they can interoperate seamlessly together. I also propose a new cloud layer for users on top of the existing cloud layers for developers to create Apps. I coin this new cloud layer for end users "Task as a Service" (TaaS).