Patent ID: 7996434

Claim:
A method for creating a Universally Unique Identifier (UUID) for a web service, comprising: creating a web service and a set service metadata associated with said web service in an integrated development environment; deploying the web service and the service metadata in one or more end points that define a uniform resource identifier (URI) where the web service can be contacted; registering the web service and the service metadata with a service registry; harvesting the service metadata from the service registry into a metadata repository stored on a computing device; generating a universally unique identifier (UUID) that uniquely identifies the web service between multiple distributed and heterogeneous systems, and storing the UUID in a service metadata asset associated with the web service in the metadata repository, wherein the service metadata asset includes a data structure representing a service type, binding and wire protocols of said web service; storing the UUID in the service metadata associated with the web service in the service registry; and periodically synchronizing the service metadata between the service registry and the metadata repository by employing the UUID associated with the web service.