A computing node in a distributed system comprising a processor and associated memory, said memory storing: software component code executable to provide a service to software components running on other computers in said distributed system; component monitoring code executable to generate an event message for distribution in said distributed system in response to the occurrence of an event pertaining to the performance of said software component; action request assembly code executable to store an assemblage of action requests received from other computers in said distributed system in reaction to the distribution of said event message in said memory; action request assemblage processing code executable to order and/or filter said assemblage of action request to generate a processed set of action requests for execution by said software component.