Cloud broker software an emerging force for enterprise migrations
April 23, 2013
Grazed from GNC.com. Author: Michael Daconta.
The term “cloud broker” currently has two definitions that are different enough to cause confusion in the government IT community, especially in the frenetic landscape of cloud computing.
Originally, the National Institute of Standards and Technology’s Cloud Computing Reference Architecture defined a cloud broker as an entity (person or organization) that provides intermediary-type services between a cloud consumer and multiple cloud providers. For the Defense Department, the DOD CIO specified that the Defense Information Systems Agency would fulfill the role of Enterprise Cloud Service Broker.
This is the traditional definition of a broker, akin to a stock broker or commodity broker, where an intermediary assists a customer navigate through a complex environment of many options. A better name for this may be “cloud agent.” A second definition of cloud broker pertains to a new type of software that sits on top of cloud providers to abstract, simplify and map various cloud offerings to your environment. Cloud broker software assists organizations in creating solutions in the cloud, migrating solutions to the cloud and moving solutions between clouds…
Recently the Health and Human Services Department sent out a request for information entitled, “Cloud Broker Vendor Questionnaire for Cloud Capabilities” that did an excellent job of laying out a set of detailed requirements for cloud broker software. It is interesting to note that the RFI refers to the traditional, entity-based definition of cloud broker services as “business brokerage capabilities.”…
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