An integrated framework of HoQ and AHP for the QOE improvement of network-based ASP services

Abstract

The application service provider (ASP) industry provides an essential infrastructure for Internet-based e-business transactions. First, we introduce the House of Quality (HoQ) framework, which provides the best way to not only arrange and evaluate voice of customers (VoC) and voice of engineers (VoE) but also combine VoC and VoE, thereby presenting explicit directions for quality of experience (QoE) enhancement. However, there have been few studies on HoQ for developing and improving telecom services. Here, we employ the analytical hierarchy process (AHP) method to evaluate VoC, VoE, and their relationships so that qualitative measurement, which is the weakest point of the traditional HoQ approach, can be substituted by quantitative and interactive estimation. The case study discussed here serves as an illustration of the applicability and usefulness of the integrated HoQ/AHP approach to the ASP industry. The proposed integrated framework successfully finds key functional elements, such as business customization and security/failure management, to reengineer the service delivery process, thereby helping service providers develop better ASP services to improve QoE effectively and efficiently.