Service Provider's Point Of View Research Articles

Hybrid dingo and whale optimization algorithm‐based optimal load balancing for cloud computing environment

AbstractCloud computing is the most rapidly growing technology that facilitates virtualized computer resources to the users through its service providers. Load balancing and task scheduling is the important concern in the cloud computing scenario from the service provider point of view. The process of load balancing is responsible for allocating the dynamic workload among the cloud systems, such that equal sharing of the resources without the virtual machines (VMs) being overloaded or underloaded. This load balancing process not only needs to allocate the tasks to suitable VMs but also need to maintain trade‐off among VMs. Thus, a potential dynamic and optimized load balancing strategy is essential for improving resource utilization, services, reliability, and throughput by maintaining equilibrium between VMs with minimized makespan. In this article, hybrid dingo and whale optimization algorithm‐based load balancing mechanism (HDWOA‐LBM) is proposed for effective load balancing those aids in maximized throughput, reliability, and resource utilization in the clouds. This HDWOA‐LBM is proposed by mimicking the hunting characteristics of dingo (equivalent to tasks) and VMs as their prey to be hunted. It inherited the process of exploration and exploitation through the chasing and approaching, encircling, and harassing inherent with dingo optimization algorithm (DOA) to determine the optimal allocation of incoming tasks to the suitable VM. In specific, it utilized the merits of whale optimization for improving the exploitation phase of DOA to balance the trade‐off between local and global search. The simulation experiments of the proposed HDWOA‐LBM conducted using CloudSim confirmed better throughput of 21.28%, maximized reliability of 25.42%, minimized makespan of 22.98%, and improved resource allocation of 20.86%, on par with the competitive intelligent load balancing schemes used for investigation.

Understanding the Impact of Waste Management on a Destination′s Image: A Stakeholders′ Perspective

The present manuscript describes a case study on the viewpoints of tourism stakeholders on the effect of waste management on a destination′s image. In particular, the study aims to analyze the problems that arose during the summer of 2018 in the touristic image of Corfu because of the waste management on the island. The qualitative method approach through interviews was used to collect the primary data of the survey; online sources were used to collect data to review similar cases. All the stakeholders agree that waste management during the summer of 2018 negatively affected the image of Corfu as a touristic destination. Moreover, based on the interviews′ findings, there is a lack of political will, infrastructure, and information provision from the local authorities on the island of Corfu. Interviews also indicated that an integrated solution to the problem of waste management on the island is the implementation of source separation in households and tourism-related firms with the support of the local authorities. The contribution of this paper is towards identifying the effect that waste management has on the image of a tourist destination. It is the first of its kind conducted in Greece and among the few reported in the literature focusing on the viewpoints of service providers.

Understanding the Customers’ Acceptance of Pick-up Apps Over the COVID-19 Pandemic Period, Stay-at-Home Orders: An Integrated Model of UTAUT

Current technological developments allow online sellers to request pick-ups via mobile apps. During the COVID-19 outbreak and with the stay-at-home orders, a survey in Indonesia showed that online transactions are increased, which led to the rise of pick-up and delivery activities. However, the pick-up order cancellation possibly happens, bad reviews appear, and apps abandonment can not be avoided. The purpose of this study is to examine user acceptance of the pick-up apps and observe its correlation with the COVID-19 stay-at-home orders using the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Usage of Technology (UTAUT) model with subjective norm to stay at home from the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) model as an additional variable. The sample was obtained from 205 users of one of the pick-up apps in Indonesia through a structured questionnaire based on a five-point Likert scale. The results showed that the stay-at-home order due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic affects customers’ intention to use pick-up apps and performance expectancy and social influence. Then, the non-linear UTAUT variables influence each other, which is the effect of effort expectancy and social influence on performance expectancy. Finally, the main factor influencing the use behavior of pick-up apps is behavioral intention. This study can contribute to IS research on technology acceptance and provides an overview of customer behavior using the pick-up apps from a pick-up service provider viewpoint.

Taking a local government perspective for economic evaluation of a population-level programme to promote exercise

BackgroundIn order to tackle the issue of physical inactivity, local governments have implemented population-level programmes to promote exercise. While evidence is accumulating on the cost-effectiveness of these interventions, studies have typically adopted a health sector perspective for economic evaluation. This approach has been challenged as it does not allow for key concerns by local governments, which are primary stakeholders, to be addressed. ObjectivesTo show how taking a local government perspective for economic evaluation can be implemented in practice and this may affect the economic conclusions. MethodsBased on data from a case study, the health equity impact of the intervention and its opportunity cost from a service provider viewpoint were assessed. The cost-effectiveness implications of a change in perspective were subsequently estimated by means of scenario analysis. FindingsThe intervention was found to provide adult residents living in the most deprived city areas with greater health benefits compared with the rest of the population. However, a negative net equity impact was found in the short-term. The opportunity cost of the intervention was estimated to be substantially lower than its financial cost (£2.77 per person/year), with significant implications for decision-making. ConclusionsTaking a local government perspective can affect the conclusions drawn from the economic evaluation of population-level programmes to promote exercise, and therefore influence decision making.

Rationality is Service Receiver’s Trait

Purpose: The article constitutes the expansion of authorial research on rationality from a service provider point of view. This time, it is from a service receiver's standpoint. The research's main goal is to identify factors that positively affect a rational choice of healthcare or transport services and allow a consumer to evince a trait of rationality. Design/Methodology/Approach: Chi-square tests and empirical significance level tests in statistics were performed. It was verified whether there is a correlation between a social group and the proportion of answers. A cross-functional analysis was done in different social groups. Findings: A statistically significant test result indicated that particular social groups differed in terms of the frequency of pointing out a given answer. The research results that are presented cover the situations in which a consumer evinces rational behavior. The findings also highlight factors that influence a consumer's decision while buying a service. They clearly show that, in both service categories, high quality and efficiency are the factors that decide while making a final decision. Moreover, employed people and students stress the importance of an office in healthcare or the appearance of a service provider in transportation. Retired people appreciate the convenient location of a service facility in both categories. Practical implications: the analysis of the variable distribution showed that it was possible to create a list of service providers' recommendations. Thanks to recognizing factors that determine the choices of service receivers, the providers will be able to arrange a service offer better – adequately to market needs. Originality/Value: Rationality, from a service perspective, is a scarce subject. Raising it is original and makes the research unique, attested by the opinion comparison between three social groups – students, employed people, and pensioners. The analysis processes enabled the creation of action strategies for service receivers with regard to the future of selected service categories.

A survey on content awareness challenges in IPTV delivery networks

Nowadays, with the evolution of digital video broadcasting, as well as, the advent of high speed broadband networks, a new era of TV services has emerged known as IPTV. IPTV is a system that exploits the high speed broadband networks to deliver TV services to the subscribers. From the service provider viewpoint, the challenge in IPTV systems is how to build delivery networks that exploits the resources efficiently and reduces the service cost, as well. However, designing such delivery networks are affected by many factors including choosing the suitable network architecture, load balancing, resources waste, and cost reduction. Furthermore, IPTV contents characteristics; particularly size, popularity, and interactivity play an important role in balancing the load and avoiding the resources waste for delivery networks. Ignoring the content status in solving delivery networks issues particularly replica placement, request distribution, and resource allocation problems leads to load imbalance, which in turn, leads to performance degradation in IPTV system. In this survey paper, we introduce IPTV delivery networks terminology and taxonomy. Upon that, we investigate the challenges related to the contents’ awareness in those delivery networks. At the end of the paper, we propose a content-awareness in ITV delivery networks and CDN as the future direction and discuss its importance in different aspects as request redirection, resource allocation, and replica placement.

A Development Method of Web System Combining Service Oriented Architecture with Multi-Software Product Line

As software systems become more complex and larger, software systems require a way to reuse software components or modules to provide new functionality. This paper designed a development method of web system combining SOA(Service Oriented Architecture) with MPSL(Multi-Software Product Line). According to provides SOA and MPSL, this paper suggested to service providers and service users to provide and reuse variable services. From the viewpoint of service provider, the suggested method identifies and implements reusable variable services as features by syntax-based, functional-based, and behavior-based methods applying feature identification guidelines and manages them as reuse assets. From the user's point of view, it is possible to develop a web system by constructing a service by workflow model as a method of structure and reconfigure services. As a result of measuring the reuse of the web system constructed in this paper by the function point, the cost reduction effect was verified by applying it to the similar project with the increase of reuse.

The Study on the e-Service Quality Factors in m-Shopping Mall App based on the Kano Model

Purpose - In this study, it is classified the service quality dimension of mobile shopping app using Kano model. In addition, it is evaluated quality factors suitable for strategic management from the viewpoint of service provider through mobile application through binary dimension analysis. Research design, data, and methodology - In this study, seven quality dimensions such as information quality, reliability, immediacy, convenience, design, security and customer service were derived through related studies to make binary shopping quality app quality measurement. 37 sub-variables were set by each quality dimensions. Each questionnaire was composed of positive and negative items like Kano's proposed method, and the satisfaction coefficient suggested by Timko(1993) was examined to understand the influence of each factors on customer satisfaction. Results - As a result of research, shopping app users perceived unity quality factor in most items of service quality dimension such as information quality, reliability, immediacy, convenience and customer service. In addition, the satisfaction coefficient showed a good impression, quick response of the result, fast delivery, and the unsatisfactory coefficient showed more interest in personal information such as payment method safety, and transaction security. As a result of research, shopping app users perceived unity quality factor in most items of service quality dimension such as information quality, reliability, immediacy, convenience and customer service. And, in information quality, the information overload was classified as an apathetic quality component, while the related information provision belonged to an attractive quality component. In reliability quality, customized service provision was classified as an attractive quality component. In instant connectivity, the quality of the connection during transport was classified as an attractive quality component. In convenience quality, access to product information was classified as a one-way quality component. All components of designs quality were classified as attractive quality components, and in security quality, all of their components were all classified as one quality component. Lastly, in customer service, they components were all classified as a single quality component. In addition, the satisfaction coefficient showed a good impression, quick response of the result, fast delivery, and the unsatisfactory coefficient showed more interest in personal information such as payment method safety, and transaction security. Conclusion - In the online service environment, which is difficult to differentiate in terms of upward upgrading only by technological implementation and function, the results of this study can be suggested as a differentiating factor for major channels with customers rather than improve the brand image.

Mastering the Art of Collaboration: Supporting Family Caregivers of Mental Health Patients by Service Providers in Iran.

Responsive support systems, designed and promoted by policy makers, are critical in supporting family caregivers. The purpose of this study was to explore viewpoints of service providers in supporting family caregivers of mental health patients in Iran. In this qualitative study, a purposive sample of 29 service providers and policy makers consented to participate in semi-structured interviews. Data were analyzed through qualitative content analysis and three main categories and seven sub-categories were identified. The main categories were: interpersonal collaboration, intra-organization collaboration and inter-sectorial collaboration. A common theme in this study was that service providers play a key role in coordinating responsive support services for Iranian family caregivers of mental health patients across all levels. The increasing complexity of the health care system and resource limitations have created complex problems, which require the use of participatory approaches by the various specialties, disciplines and departments to provide complementary services and mutual support. This approach is the best way of ensuring that service users receive the most relevant services from the right service providers in the right place as and when needed.

Throughput optimization for admitting NFV-enabled requests in cloud networks

Network softwarization is emerging as a techno-economic transformation trend that impacts the way that network service providers deliver their network services significantly. As a key ingredient of such a trend, network function virtualization (NFV) is shown to enable elastic and inexpensive network services for next-generation networks, through deploying flexible virtualized network functions (VNFs) running in virtual computing platforms. Different VNFs can be chained together to form different service chains for different network services, to meet various user data routing demands. From the service provider point of view, such services are usually implemented by VNF instances in a cloudlet network consisting of a set of data centers and switches. In this paper we consider provisioning network services in a cloud network for implementing VNF instances of service chains, where the VNF instances in each data center are partitioned into K types with each hosting one type of service chain. We investigate the throughput maximization problem with the aim to admit as many user requests as possible while minimizing the implementation cost of the requests, assuming that limited numbers of instances of each service chain have been instantiated in data centers. We first show the problem is NP-Complete, and propose an optimal algorithm for a special case of the problem when all requests have identical packet rates; otherwise, we devise two approximation algorithms with approximation ratios, depending on whether the packet traffic of each request is splittable. If arrivals of future requests are not known in advance, we study the online throughput maximization problem by proposing an online algorithm with a competitive ratio. We finally conduct experiments to evaluate the performance of the proposed algorithms by simulations. Simulation results show that the performance of the proposed algorithms are promising.

Formulating and managing viable SLAs in cloud computing from a small to medium service provider's viewpoint: A state-of-the-art review

In today's competitive world, service providers need to be customer-focused and proactive in their marketing strategies to create consumer awareness of their services. Cloud computing provides an open and ubiquitous computing feature in which a large random number of consumers can interact with providers and request services. In such an environment, there is a need for intelligent and efficient methods that increase confidence in the successful achievement of business requirements. One such method is the Service Level Agreement (SLA), which is comprised of service objectives, business terms, service relations, obligations and the possible action to be taken in the case of SLA violation. Most of the emphasis in the literature has, until now, been on the formation of meaningful SLAs by service consumers, through which their requirements will be met. However, in an increasingly competitive market based on the cloud environment, service providers too need a framework that will form a viable SLA, predict possible SLA violations before they occur, and generate early warning alarms that flag a potential lack of resources. This is because when a provider and a consumer commit to an SLA, the service provider is bound to reserve the agreed amount of resources for the entire period of that agreement – whether the consumer uses them or not. It is therefore very important for cloud providers to accurately predict the likely resource usage for a particular consumer and to formulate an appropriate SLA before finalizing an agreement. This problem is more important for a small to medium cloud service provider which has limited resources that must be utilized in the best possible way to generate maximum revenue. A viable SLA in cloud computing is one that intelligently helps the service provider to determine the amount of resources to offer to a requesting consumer, and there are number of studies on SLA management in the literature. The aim of this paper is two-fold. First, it presents a comprehensive overview of existing state-of-the-art SLA management approaches in cloud computing, and their features and shortcomings in creating viable SLAs from the service provider's viewpoint. From a thorough analysis, we observe that the lack of a viable SLA management framework renders a service provider unable to make wise decisions in forming an SLA, which could lead to service violations and violation penalties. To fill this gap, our second contribution is the proposal of the Optimized Personalized Viable SLA (OPV-SLA) framework which assists a service provider to form a viable SLA and start managing SLA violation before an SLA is formed and executed. The framework also assists a service provider to make an optimal decision in service formation and allocate the appropriate amount of marginal resources. We demonstrate the applicability of our framework in forming viable SLAs through experiments. From the evaluative results, we observe that our framework helps a service provider to form viable SLAs and later to manage them to effectively minimize possible service violation and penalties.

A practical model for ensemble estimation of QoS and QoE in VoIP services via fuzzy inference systems and fuzzy evidence theory

Nowadays, there is an increasing number of Voices over IP (VoIP) services offered in telecommunication networks with specific quality requirements. Such requirements impact upon both the objective quality of service (QoS) of the end-to end connection as well as the subjective quality of experience (QoE) as perceived by the end user. In this study, we have proposed an integrated QoS and QoE evaluation system based on the combination of fuzzy inference systems and fuzzy evidence theory. For quality criteria, we have used QoS as a technical source from the viewpoint of service provider and QoE as the end user approach in front of service. We have divided the positive and negative variables of QoE into two distinct systems. At the same time, a parameter has been proposed as quality, which is the total quality of a service according to the objective and subjective viewpoints. To calculate the parameters mentioned above, a fuzzy inference system has been utilized. In addition, to obtain all data sources as an evidence of quality, Dempster---Shafer evidence theory has been employed. Finally, the proposed approach evaluated through the quality of VoIP services in three real cases and the results are discussed.

Assessing Service Quality and Customer Satisfaction in Management Education Using SERVQUAL Model

This paper investigates the gaps present in the service quality of the business schools, and tries to link the same with the gaps model of service quality (SERVQUAL). The paper adopts a multidimensional view, considering the service quality from the view point of service provider as well as the customer. The prominent focus of business schools on outcomes and outputs is been studied in the paper and the shortcomings of the same are discussed. The lack of business schools to focus on the inputs and the delivery processes, leads to improper service quality which inevitably hampers the overall brand of the institute. This paper finds out the gaps in service quality in management education to ascertain the exact reasons for the same.

Evaluating the Efficiency and Effectiveness of a Federated SSO Environment Using Shibboleth

The notion of this project is derived from our practical use of user authentication system namely Shibboleth at the University of Bedfordshire. It has been found that the University of Bedfordshire controls its various services including student portal Breo, Learning Resources and Student Email Access and others through the Shibboleth. Like the University of Bedfordshire the other Universities in the UK are also implementing the Shibboleth system in their access management control. Therefore, the researchers of this project have found it important to evaluate its efficiency and effectiveness of Shibboleth from different perspectives. In the first part of this paper it tries to explain the features of Shibboleth as SSO services and compares it with other SSO services like Athens, Kerberos, etc. Then in the middle section, the authors go through the steps of installation and configuration of the Shibboleth. In the end of the paper, based on the survey of real users of Shibboleth at the University of Bedfordshire, the authors give its insights on the effectiveness of the Shibboleth as SSO service. Throughout this investigation, the authors have applied a triangulation to find out user and service provider viewpoint about Shibboleth. Although there were some problems persisted, the authors also implemented the Shibboleth system successfully to figure out different problems, efficiency and effectiveness. The recommendations and conclusion have been provided at the end of this project.

Digital convergence service from the viewpoint of provider and user factors using technology acceptance and diffusion model

Convergence diffuses new business models and derives significant changes across global industrial activities. As such, convergence is emerging as a hot issue within IT industries nowadays. Particularly, digital convergence is creating yet another distinct blue ocean, as computers are evolving from their combination with communications to their combination with broadcasting and communications involving media contents. The objective of this study is to examine the differentiated characteristics of IT convergence service vis-a-vis the exiting IT service from the viewpoint of service providers and service users, and to define the cultural difference between the two nations (South Korea and Japan) based on Hofstede's cultural model (2001, 2005). Thus, using (1989) TAM (Technology Acceptance Model) theory, represented by IS adaption and use, and (2003) IS success model, this study developed a research model in the form of a structural equation. This model is based conceptually on the viewpoint of (1992, 2003) acceptance and diffusion, and on the viewpoint of (2002) use and diffusion, and was designed based on theory of reasoned action and theory of planned behavior considering the service user's personal attitude and behavior elements. In order to perform a statistical verification of this research model, the representative analysis tool for a structural equation, the partial least squares method, was used. As a result of such statistical analysis, it was confirmed that that there was a significant change in consumers' perception and behaviors regarding the acceptance and diffusion of innovations according to cultural difference between the two nations. In addition, subsequent diverse implications were derived, and as such, this study made a significant contribution to the development of future research on convergence innovation services.

Psychosocial, behavioural and health system barriers to delivery and uptake of intermittent preventive treatment of malaria in pregnancy in Tanzania - viewpoints of service providers in Mkuranga and Mufindi districts.

BackgroundIntermittent preventive treatment of malaria in pregnancy (IPTp) using sulphurdoxine-pyrimethamine (SP) is one of key malaria control strategies in Africa. Yet, IPTp coverage rates across Africa are still low due to several demand and supply constraints. Many countries implement the IPTp-SP strategy at antenatal care (ANC) clinics. This paper reports from a study on the knowledge and experience of health workers (HWs) at ANC clinics regarding psychosocial, behavioural and health system barriers to IPTp-SP delivery and uptake in Tanzania.MethodsData were collected through questionnaire-based interviews with 78 HWs at 28 ANC clinics supplemented with informal discussions with current and recent ANC users in Mkuranga and Mufindi districts. Qualitative data were analysed using a qualitative content analysis approach. Quantitative data derived from interviews with HWs were analysed using non-parametric statistical analysis.ResultsThe majority of interviewed HWs were aware of the IPTp-SP strategy’s existence and of the recommended one month spacing of administration of SP doses. Some HWs were unsure of that it is not recommended to administer IPTp-SP and ferrous/folic acid concurrently. Others were administering three doses of SP per client following instruction from a non-governmental agency while believing that this was in conflict with national guidelines. About half of HWs did not find it appropriate for the government to recommend private ANC providers to provide IPTp-SP free of charge since doing so forces private providers to recover the costs elsewhere. HWs noted that pregnant women often register at clinics late and some do not comply with the regularity of appointments for revisits, hence miss IPTp and other ANC services. HWs also noted some amplified rumours among clients regarding health risks and treatment failures of SP used during pregnancy, and together with clients’ disappointment with waiting times and the sharing of cups at ANC clinics for SP, limit the uptake of IPTp-doses.ConclusionHWs still question SP’s treatment advantages and are confused about policy ambiguity on the recommended number of IPTp-SP doses and other IPTp-SP related guidelines. IPTp-SP uptake is further constrained by pregnant women’s perceived health risks of taking SP and of poor service quality.

Access to Health Care: The Experiences of Refugee and Refugee Claimant Women in Hamilton, Ontario

Using a social-determinants-of-health framework, this article explores the accessibility of health services from the viewpoints of service providers (n = 9) and refugee and refugee claimant women (n = 37) in Hamilton, Ontario. It also asks whether the experiences of refugee and refugee claimant women in navigating the health care system differ. Overall, opportunities for accessing health and social services were largely constrained by (or enabled by) their legal entitlements as Convention refugees or refugee claimants, rather than by their cultural or ethnic identities.

An operational model of safety management for service providers in manufacturing industry

Service providers encounter problems in trying to meet safety requirements set by legislation and multiple customers. This article introduces an operational model for service providers to promote and ease the management of safety. The model guides providers organising safety management within their own company and at customers' worksites, and encourages utilising good safety performance as an asset. The operational model is constructed by paying attention to the relevant legislation, encountered safety management problems, contributory factors of accidents, and the needs of organisations operating in manufacturing. According to the user reviews, the model's novel way of combining theoretical information, legal requirements, practical examples and tools, and a particular service provider viewpoint is a beneficial approach to the introduction of safety management.

Cloud-Based Desktop Services for Thin Clients

Cloud computing and ubiquitous network availability have renewed people's interest in the thin client concept. By executing applications in virtual desktops on cloud servers, users can access any application from any location with any device. For this to be a successful alternative to traditional offline applications, however, researchers must overcome important challenges. The thin client protocol must display audiovisual output fluidly, and the server executing the virtual desktop should have sufficient resources and ideally be close to the user's current location to limit network delay. From a service provider viewpoint, cost reduction is also an important issue.

A two-dimensional architecture for end-to-end resource management in virtual network environments

In recent years, various network virtualization techniques have been proposed for flexibly supporting heterogeneous services over virtual network platforms. However, systematic views on how virtual network resources (VNRs) can be practically managed in such open environments has been missing till now. To fill the gap, we present in this article a two-dimensional architecture for end-to-end VNR management from distinct viewpoints of service providers and network providers. The horizontal dimension of VNR management allows SPs to bind VNRs rented from heterogeneous NPs to form unified end-to-end service delivery platforms. The vertical dimension of VNR management enables NPs to perform cost-efficient allocation of VNRs to requesting SPs, but without necessarily forcing themselves to collaborate with each other. Such a VNR management architecture will complement existing network virtualization platforms in accelerating the realization of virtual resource sharing in the future Internet business marketplaces.