Abstract: Disclosed are methods and apparatus for effectively provisioning services for access by other entities or services. In general, a service manager is configured to manage the provisioning of services between remote entities within a computer network. In general terms, a remote entity offers a service to another remote entity through the service manager. The service manager facilitates formation of the offer to one or more Invitee(s) specified by the service provider. After an offer is formed, it may then be provided to the specified Invitee(s). After an Invitee receives an offer, the Invitee may accept the offer through the service manager or let the offer expire. The service manager also preferably tracks the status of each offer and whether each specified Invitee has accepted such offer. After an Invitee accepts an offer, the service manager preferably records information sufficient for the Invitee to use the offered service.

Abstract: Disclosed are methods and apparatus for effectively correlating messages sent between services. In general, a message interchange network is configured to manage the use of services by remote entities or services within a computer network. In general terms, correlation information is stored for each message. The correlation information includes information for correlating each message with a specific call between two services and a specific session between two or more services.