Patent ID: 7768944

Claim:
A system for formally defining service level requirements comprising: a tangible storage medium comprising a service level profile document, wherein said service level profile document comprises: a service specification of said document which defines functional attributes and associated values for providing a service responsive to a service request in a service oriented architecture (SOA), wherein each service of the service specification comprises a baseline value and a preferred value, where a baseline value is a value for a minimum acceptable service level and wherein the preferred value is a value at least as great as the baseline value that is a value for a desired service level; and a capability specification of said document which defines performance requirements and associated values for the provided service, wherein each performance requirement of the capability specification comprises a baseline value and a preferred value, where a baseline value is a value for a minimum acceptable performance level and wherein the preferred value is a value at least as great as the baseline value that is a value for a desired performance level, and computing equipment operable to read the service level profile document and to provide the service in accordance with the functional attributes and the performance requirements defined in the service level profile document.