Virtual enterprises (VEs) enable the deployment of distributed business processes among different partners to support shortened development and manufacturing cycles, reduced time to market, increased customer satisfaction and global operation and reach. Dynamic VEs are an emerging category of VEs, where the different partners are selected dynamically during business process execution based on market-driven criteria and negotiation. In this paper, we discuss concepts and technologies that are considered to satisfy key requirements of dynamic virtual enterprises, and propose DIVE (Dynamic Intelligent Virtual Enterprises), a framework for the specification, execution and management of shared business processes in dynamic VEs.

Interworking traders allow their clients' requests and their servers' advertisements to go across the boundaries of trading communities. Interworking is accomplished via trader links. The OMG (Object Management Group) and the ISO ODP (Open Distributed Processing) Committee have published a paper (OMG RFP5 Submission, "Trading Object Service", OMG Document orbos/96-06-07) which specifies asymmetrical links for trader interworking. Symmetrical links, however, provide more quality of service than asymmetrical links, and thus facilitate trader interworking significantly. This paper discusses both symmetrical and asymmetrical links and presents a federation manager which solves most of the problems caused by asymmetrical links.

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The Y architecture, which provides a platform for the support of cooperative applications in a heterogeneous, open distributed computing environment, is presented. Y design concepts include domains for the structuring of the environment and the grouping of components, a service concept for the description of component functions and interfaces, and an extended client/server paradigm, which defines the roles of application and infrastructure entities. The Y architecture identifies four planes comprising distributed applications, the support environment, interprocess communication, and the interconnected networks. Y is designed for large distributed systems and intelligent networks.>

The first systematic investigation is presented of the consequences of using out-of-date load information in a server selection process. The authors suggest a selection policy allowing for the use of significantly outdated information and demonstrate the possible consequences of client autonomy, i.e. of clients using other server selection rules, such as the one suggested in the common trading concept.>