System and method for orchestration of services for use with a cloud computing environment

1. A system for orchestration of services for use with a cloud computing environment, comprising:

one or more computers including a processor, and a cloud environment executing thereon;

a platform component provided within the cloud environment, that supports provisioning for enterprise applications;

one or more service definition packages, for use with the platform component, wherein each service definition package includes a virtual assembly that defines a topology and a configuration for a set of virtual appliances comprising a running instance of a particular enterprise application component, and defines, for the particular enterprise application component, how the particular enterprise application component is deliverable as a service type within the platform component; and

an orchestration engine, which

receives the one or more service definition packages,

parses the one or more service definition packages to determine service characteristics and requirements, for the particular enterprise application component deliverable as a service type within the platform component,

determines, using the one or more service definition packages, one or more particular service types corresponding to the particular enterprise application component to be provisioned for use within the cloud environment,

selects, from one or more available service management engines, one or more service management engines that correspond to the one or more particular service types,

configures the one or more service management engines to support those one or more particular service types, including determining provider dependencies of the one or more corresponding service management engines, and

provisions the one or more particular service types.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein

each service definition package includes a virtual assembly that defines a topology and a configuration for a set of virtual appliances, and

wherein an enterprise application defined by its service definition package, can be instantiated as one or more services that are then accessible by other applications within the cloud environment.

3. The system of claim 1 , wherein the orchestration engine communicates with a plurality of service management engines to control the flow of service creation, provider dependency resolution, association of services and providers, and life-cycle management of services within the cloud environment.

4. The system of claim 1 , wherein the available service management engines implement a service management interface that defines support for the corresponding service types and handles related service activities for the corresponding service types.

5. The system of claim 1 , wherein the orchestration engine calls a configurable properties function of the one or more corresponding service management engines that exposes, for editing, configurable properties of the one or more corresponding service management engines.

6. The system of claim 1 , wherein the orchestration engine performs pre-provisioning association between the one or more corresponding service management engines.

7. A method of providing orchestration of services for use with a cloud computing environment, comprising:

providing one or more computers including a cloud environment executing thereon;

providing a platform component within the cloud environment, that supports provisioning for enterprise applications;

providing one or more service definition packages, for use with the platform component, wherein each service definition package includes a virtual assembly that defines a topology and a configuration for a set of virtual appliances comprising a running instance of a particular enterprise application component, and defines, for the particular enterprise application component, how the particular enterprise application component is deliverable as a service type within the platform component; and

providing an orchestration engine, which

receives one or more service definition packages,

parses the one or more service definition packages to determine service characteristics and requirements, for the particular enterprise application component deliverable as a service type within the platform component,

determines, using the one or more service definition packages, one or more particular service types corresponding to the particular enterprise application component to be provisioned for use within the cloud environment,

selects, from one or more available service management engines, one or more service management engines that correspond to the one or more particular service types,

configures the one or more service management engines to support those one or more particular service types, including determining provider dependencies of the one or more corresponding service management engines, and

provisions the one or more particular service types.

8. The method of claim 7 , wherein

each service definition package includes a virtual assembly that defines a topology and a configuration for a set of virtual appliances, and

wherein an enterprise application defined by its service definition package, can be instantiated as one or more services that are then accessible by other applications within the cloud environment.

9. The method of claim 7 , wherein the orchestration engine communicates with a plurality of service management engines to control the flow of service creation, provider dependency resolution, association of services and providers, and life-cycle management of services within the cloud environment.

10. The method of claim 7 , wherein the available service management engines implement a service management interface that defines support for the corresponding service types and handles related service activities for the corresponding service types.

11. The method of claim 7 , wherein the orchestration engine calls a configurable properties function of the one or more corresponding service management engines that exposes, for editing, configurable properties of the one or more corresponding service management engines.

12. The method of claim 7 , wherein the orchestration engine performs pre-provisioning association between the one or more corresponding service management engines.

13. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium, including instructions stored thereon which when read and executed by one or more computers cause the one or more computers to perform the steps comprising:

providing one or more computers including a cloud environment executing thereon;

providing a platform component within the cloud environment, that supports provisioning for enterprise applications;

providing one or more service definition packages, for use with the platform component, wherein each service definition package includes a virtual assembly that defines a topology and a configuration for a set of virtual appliances comprising a running instance of a particular enterprise application component, and defines, for the particular enterprise application component, how the particular enterprise application component is deliverable as a service type within the platform component; and

providing an orchestration engine, which

receives one or more service definition packages,

parses the one or more service definition packages to determine service characteristics and requirements, for the particular enterprise application component deliverable as a service type within the platform component,

determines, using the one or more service definition packages, one or more particular service types corresponding to the particular enterprise application component to be provisioned for use within the cloud environment,

selects, from one or more available service management engines, one or more service management engines that correspond to the one or more particular service types,

configures the one or more service management engines to support those one or more particular service types, including determining provider dependencies of the one or more corresponding service management engines, and

provisions the one or more particular service types.

14. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 13 , wherein

each service definition package includes a virtual assembly that defines a topology and a configuration for a set of virtual appliances, and

wherein an enterprise application defined by its service definition package, can be instantiated as one or more services that are then accessible by other applications within the cloud environment.

15. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 13 , wherein the orchestration engine communicates with a plurality of service management engines to control the flow of service creation, provider dependency resolution, association of services and providers, and life-cycle management of services within the cloud environment.

16. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 13 , wherein the available service management engines implement a service management interface that defines support for the corresponding service types and handles related service activities for the corresponding service types.

17. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 13 , wherein the orchestration engine calls a configurable properties function of the one or more corresponding service management engines that exposes, for editing, configurable properties of the one or more corresponding service management engines.

18. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 13 , wherein the orchestration engine performs pre-provisioning association between the one or more corresponding service management engines.