Internal perspective of the cloud service provider
Internal perspective of the cloud service provider focuses on key processes that are streamlined by the service provider to ensure quality delivery of services.
It involves the use of following processes:
Service Asset and Configuration Management : It is used to maintain information about Configuration Items (CI) required to deliver an IT service, including their relationships. The registration of each IT component is required in the CMDB along with a well defined relationship. The failure of a single component has a severe impact on many customers since many customers of the Cloud service provider are supported by these IT components. This will directly impact the business of the service provider.
Demand Management : There can be a sudden rush in demand in a cloud environment. The probability of rush in demand is higher in public cloud. The provider should always be prepared to provision such demands. The analysis of PBA and trend analysis supports in addressing the change in demand pattern.
Capacity Management : The service provider should ensure the availability of sufficient capacity to meet the sudden rush in demand. A balance between the utilized and excess capacity is required and maintained by the service provider.
Request Fulfillment : It is an important process for cloud computing and is responsible for fulfilling service requests. The request for a cloud service is treated as a service request.
External perspective of the cloud service provider
External perspective of the cloud service provider focuses on key areas that are addressed before transferring the cloud services to the customers.
It involves the use of following processes:
Service Catalogue Management : It is considered a key process since the service offerings and its important details that are significant for SLM and for the customer belong to a service catalogue.
Service Portfolio Management : It is used to decide on a strategy to serve customers, and to develop the service provider’s offerings and capabilities. Entire process starting from studying the market feasibility of a service to deciding on its actual deployment has to be very efficient and involves the use of Service Portfolio Management.
Supplier Management : It is a critical process for a cloud service provider since real time provisioning is very important in cloud computing.
Customer perspective
Customer perspective is the main concern that customers have when they use cloud services.
It involves the use of following processes:
1. Information Security Management : It has the objective to manage information security effectively within all service providers. Security of data and services is the main concern of any organization that wants to move their services to cloud.
2. IT Service Continuity Management : It is the process by which plans are put in place and managed to ensure that IT Services can recover and continue should a serious incident occur. IT Service Continuity Management process and policy provided by the service provider is required to be evaluated and analyzed for understanding its relevancy to organizational service continuity and business continuity policy.
3. Incident Management : It is used to restore normal operations as quickly as possible. The way the incidents are handled is required to be clearly specified for Incident Management.
Following can lead to incidents in a cloud environment:
Error in application or service: Incidents that happen due to error in the services or applications hosted by the organization. Customers are required to resolve these incidents by themselves but a proper monitoring and recording of such events or errors are necessary.
Error in the cloud infrastructure: It is the responsibility of the service provider to resolve such incidents.
4. Change Management : It ensures that standardized methods and procedures are used for efficient handling of all changes. The organizational change management policy is followed by the customer organization to control change to the hosted services or applications. The service provider controls the changes that are related to cloud infrastructure.