A method for service allocation among a plurality of entities requiring service allocation in a communications or computing environment comprising the steps of initializing a supply of services of one or more holding entities, endowing one or more bidding entities with an adjustably fixed amount of utility and a requirement for an amount of the supply of services, wherein the fixed amount of utility is a measure representative of the possibility of failure due to lack of resources, negotiating the supply of services of the holding entities, with each bidding entity bidding a selected amount of its fixed amount of utility, and redistribution of the supply of the holding entities among the bidding entities based on the negotiating.