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Glossary

Account

An object (or resource, in terms of the platform) containing all necessary data about a company that works with the platform. Such a resource contains the general contact and business information as well as the relationship with services consumed or delivered by this account. There are three account types: provider, reseller, and customer.

Actor

An actor in the APS security system is something or someone who sends a request to the APS Controller. This can be a user or an APS resource, including an application instance.

API client

An external system that gets access to the platform through the APS bus.

Application

When talking about hosting services, it is a SaaS, PaaS, IAAS, or any other cloud or on-premises software whose services are licensed on a subscription basis. APS allows application vendors to integrate such applications with the platform.

APS
Application Packaging Standard

A standard that defines a technology for integrating cloud and on-premises application services with an APS-compliant platform.

A module in the platform that implements the APS technology.

APS application

A part of a cloud or on-premises application specially designed and developed to integrate the application into the APS ecosystem through the APS REST interface. This allows the application to use the services of the platform and other applications integrated into the APS ecosystem.

APS application connector
APS connector

A part of an APS application that exposes an application API in REST format for the APS controller. It works as a gate between the APS controller and the application: it processes REST requests received from the APS controller and converts them into original application calls. The APS connector can be installed from an APS package or any other source. An application and its APS connector can exist as two separate installations or be combined as a single installation. This can be within the provider’s premises or within the cloud application.

APS application endpoint

A URL exposed by an APS connector that the APS controller uses to interact with the respective integrated application presented by the APS connector.

APS application instance

An integration component that represents an integrated application on the APS bus. In the APS database, an APS application instance is represented by an APS resource on top of a logical hierarchy of the APS application resources associated with an APS connector. To make the APS controller use an application, an APS application instance must be installed on an APS connector and registered in the platform. An APS application instance establishes a secure connection between the APS controller and the respective original cloud application.

Physically, it can be a set of files inside an APS connector containing, for example, a unique SSL certificate and the key generated by the APS controller during the process of installing this APS application instance.

APS application service

A factory for managing APS resources defined by a particular APS type. APS metadata must declare at least one APS service for an application and bind it to an APS type on a one-to-one basis. Each APS application service exposes its own REST URL for the APS controller.

APS bus

A unified REST interface based on APS and exposed by the APS controller to connect all integrated platform services, cloud application services, and management systems.

APS catalog

The repository of APS-certified application packages available for download.

APS controller

A service in the hosting platform integrating the latter with APS applications and management systems using the APS bus.

APS ecosystem

A system that integrates the platform services, cloud application services, and management systems using the APS. Its central part is the APS controller providing the APS bus as a unified REST interface to integrate all APS participants mentioned above.

APS ID

An identifier assigned to an APS application, APS package, APS type, or APS resource that makes the respective object unique among all other objects of the same kind. For APS applications and APS types, the developers ensure the APS ID uniqueness by using the URI format with a unique domain name and the object specific suffix. For the other APS objects, the GUID format is used.

A named link of a resource to another resource. A link is instantiated from an APS relation declared in the APS type of the resource.

APS metadata
APS meta

An XML structure shipped inside each APS package that declares the APS application general properties, APS application services, and APS application UI.

APS package

A set of files and directories compressed into a single file that allows for the deploying, provisioning, and managing of an APS application in the APS ecosystem. The file name extension is app.zip.

APS relation

A named JSON object declared in an APS type and used to create a singular or multiple links from an APS resource of this type to other resources of different types. A relation can be declared as weak (optional) or strong (required).

APS resource

A JSON object stored in the APS database to represent an application resource created through an APS application service (factory of resources). It instantiates a certain APS type. An APS resource is uniquely identified by its APS ID.

APS resource endpoint
Fully qualified URL that identifies a particular APS resource within an APS application, for example,
https://endpoints.apsdemo.org/<aps-connector>/<service>/<resourceID>. The latter consists of:
APS service endpoint
A fully qualified URL that identifies an application service for a particular APS type within an APS application, for example,
https://endpoints.apsdemo.ogr/<aps-connector>/<service>/. The latter consists of:
APS type

A formal declaration of an APS resource schema (properties, structures, operations, and relations) in an APS package. Each APS type is defined in the JSON format JSON-SCH inside its own schema file within an APS package. APS types support multiple inheritances (implementation) of other APS types. An APS type used to create an APS application instance must implement the standard Application APS type. The other APS types implement the standard Resource APS type (directly or indirectly).

APS UI
APS application UI
APS application user interface

A part of an APS package integrated with the control panels of the hosting platform and customized to visualize UI controls used for managing the respective application services.

BSS
BSS platform

The Business Support System is the part of the platform responsible for all business automation processes including the management of accounts, resources, service plans, the online store, and billing processes. In a typical platform installation, BSS is closely integrated with OSS.

BSS subscription

An instance of a service plan created when a customer subscribes to that service plan. It contains the same set of resource rates as in the service plan.

CRUD

The acronym for the Create, Read, Update, and Delete REST operations implemented through the HTTP POST, GET, PUT, and DELETE methods respectively.

Customer

An account that is a consumer of services sold through service plans in BSS. A customer can be a direct client of the provider or a client of a reseller.

ERP

Enterprise Resource Planning is the integrated management of core business processes.

Fake Reseller

A reseller that represents the provider to resell products without any financial transactions between the provider and the reseller.

Hosting platform
Hosting automation platform
Hosting system
Hosting automation system

A system used by service providers (also known as hosting providers) to automate internet hosting services, for example, the services listed at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_hosting_service.

ISV
Independent software vendor
Application vendor

A company specializing in making or selling software, designed for mass or niche markets. In the APS ecosystem, it is an independent software vendor that is in response of the services provided by its cloud application or a cloud system integrated with the platform.

L1 reseller

A layer one reseller representing a company that signed a contract with the provider to resell some services. The provider can also create resellers to represent the provider in various world regions with different brands. In those cases, the ERP system does not track transactions between the provider and L1 resellers, but tracks the transactions between L1 resellers and the lower layers.

L2 reseller

A layer two reseller representing a company that signed a contract with an L1 reseller to resell the services allowed by that contract.

Management node
OSS management node

A server that is the central part of the platform OSS. It provides the control panels for managing OSS and contains the APS controller to integrate the platform OSS services and other application services into a single APS ecosystem.

MSRP

A Manufacturer’s Suggested Retail Price is the retail price recommended by the provider to resellers.

OSS
OSS platform

The Operations Support System responsible for the automation of service delivery including integration with external services through APS and management of accounts, resources, service templates, and subscriptions. In a typical platform installation, OSS is closely integrated with BSS.

OSS subscription

An service template instance created directly in OSS or when a customer subscribes in BSS to a service plan based on that service template. It contains the same set of resource types as in the service template. The limits on the resources are the same as in the service template if they are not overridden by BSS.

Plan category

A object used to group service plans for different purposes, mainly to assign them to the appropriate tax category.

Platform

A CloudBlue Commerce hosting and service automation platform. Normally, its main parts are the Operations Support System (OSS) and the Business Support System (BSS). For testing and training purposes, you can also use a platform containing only one of those parts either OSS or BSS.

Provider
Service provider

A company providing services through the Internet, including telecommunication service providers (Telco), application service providers, storage service providers, hosting service providers, and Internet service providers.

Reseller

Typically, a company that has a contract with the provider to resell the provider’s resources, although the provider can create resellers to represent the provider in different regions or with different brands. It is also possible to create a fake reseller.

Resource class

A platform built-in structured schema describing the properties of resource types that can be created from this resource class. To provide APS application resources, the platform contains the following resource classes:

  • The Application Service Reference resource class is used to create resource types referring to some system-wide APS resources belonging to the provider and shared to all customers. For example, every APS application instance or a service profile (also known as a service offer) with a set of parameters is presented by a certain resource type created from this resource class.

  • The Application Service resource class is needed to create resource types used to provide APS resources for customers. In this case, a resource type maps to an APS type that will be used to create the APS resources.

  • The Application Counter resource class is used to create resource types mapped to the counter structure of an APS type. When an APS resource is provisioned from that APS type, the platform starts polling the APS resource through the retrieve method to get the current values of the resource counters.

Resource type

An object created from a resource class and used to provision a certain service by allocating resources to customers or end users. To use a resource type for provisioning, the provider must include it into a service template and then use the latter to create subscriptions for customers.

Sales vendor
Product vendor

For an account, this is the provider or a reseller who created that account and provides products for it. For example, a reseller that created a sub-reseller and a customer is the sales vendor for both of them.

Service plan

A commercial offering presented as a product for sale in the online store and in the platform control panels. It is configured by the provider or a reseller in the BSS control panel and can be delegated to sub-resellers. A service plan is one of the most complex objects: it is always based on a service template and bound with various other BSS components, for example, sales category and plan category, which are necessary for selling and taxation. To make sales flexible, a service plan allows for setting of various fees, typically for various subscription periods and for various resources.

Service profile

An APS resource created by the provider from an application APS type and shared system-wide, also known as a parameterized service or offer. The provider can create a number of service profiles based on the same APS type to present various service levels. Further, to present those service levels in a service template, the provider must preliminary create a resource type based on the Application Service Reference resource class. This resource type must also be bound to the service profile it represents in the service template.

Service template

An object that contains a set of resource types. The provider creates a service template in the OSS control panel to provide to customers with the application services presented by those resource types. When a customer subscribes to a service plan based on that service template, the platform creates a subscription as an instance of the service template. The provider can set a limit on a resource type in the service template or leave the resource type unlimited.

Service terms

In BSS, every service plan is bound to a service term that defines a step-by-step service deactivation process for a customer that did not pay the subscription renewal for the next subscription period. A service term contains the following parameters:

  • Grace Period defines the number of days after the subscription period expiration. During this period, the services are still active. If the customer does not renew the subscription by the end of the period, the services will be stopped.

  • Hold Period defines the number of days after the end of the Grace Period. The services are stopped but not removed during this period.

  • Destroy Service after Hold Period defines whether the services will be terminated after the Hold Period.

Service user
Service users

Service users are end-users who consume services and resources, for example, mailboxes or application services acquired by the account through a subscription.

SKU

A stock keeping unit is a product and service identification code assigned to a billable item. Read more at Stock Keeping Unit (SKU). In the platform BSS, SKUs are assigned to billable items in service plans and resource rates inside service plans. For example, when setting a subscription period, the provider can assign Setup SKU, Recurring SKU, and so on. It is possible to shown SKUs in the online store, control panels, orders, and account receivable documents.

Staff member
Staff members

Staff members are those who operate the system and resources on behalf of their account. Under the provider’s or a reseller’s account, they are called provider staff members and reseller staff members respectively. Under a customer account, they are called customer administrators.

Subscriber

An account that is subscribed to a service plan and therefore is the owner of a subscription.

Subscription

In the platform OSS or BSS, when a customer subscribes to a service plan representing services of an application, the platform creates two subscriptions, an OSS subscription and a BSS subscription.

Tax category

A very simple object that groups several service plans (through plan categories) and resources (through resource categories) to take part in a particular taxation algorithm. The algorithm takes into account the plan category and the tax zone to calculate the taxes (for example, VAT) when selling those products in a particular region.

UI view
User interface view

A navigation element plugged into a control panel to render navigation controls and widgets for managing APS resources. A view source is based on HTML and JavaScript code.

UX

“User experience” is a term that encompasses all aspects of the user interaction with the platform.

UX1

A user panel of the platform based on the newest user experience and available for resellers, customers, and service users.