A context-driven adaptation process for service-based applications

When building service-oriented systems the evolution of requirements and context is the norm rather than the exception. Therefore, it is important to make sure that the system is able to evolve as well without necessarily starting a completely new development process, and possibly on the fly. In this paper we specifically focus on the role of the context in the adaptation activities. For us context has various different facets as it includes information ranging from the situation in which users exploit a service-based application to the conditions under which the component services can be exploited. We elaborate on how and when the context should be defined, exploited, and evolved, and on the impact it has on the various activities related to adaptation of service-based applications. We use a case study to exemplify our first findings on this subject.