Overview
ISO/IEC 22123-2:2023 - Information technology - Cloud computing - Part 2: Concepts - defines and clarifies foundational cloud computing concepts. Building on the vocabulary in ISO/IEC 22123-1, this international standard provides structured definitions and detailed descriptions of how core terms and concepts apply across cloud architectures, services and deployments. It serves as a reference foundation for technical documents, implementation guidance, contracts and governance frameworks in cloud computing.
Key topics and technical scope
The standard addresses a broad set of cloud concepts and cross‑cutting requirements, including:
- Core characteristics of cloud computing: broad network access, measured service, multi‑tenancy, on‑demand self‑service, rapid elasticity/scalability, and resource pooling.
- Cloud service categories and models: Software as a Service (SaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS), Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) and other “as‑a‑service” offerings (NaaS, CaaS, CompaaS, DSaaS).
- Deployment models: private, public, community and hybrid cloud models and their conceptual distinctions.
- Parties and roles: cloud service customer, provider and partner roles and responsibilities.
- Cross‑cutting aspects: auditability, availability, governance, interoperability, maintenance/versioning, performance, portability, protection of PII, regulatory considerations, resiliency, reversibility, security, and service levels/SLA concepts.
- Data and service concepts: data processing, data flow, multi‑source processing and data sharing in cloud services.
- Virtualization concepts: system hardware virtualization (VMs, hypervisors), containers, serverless computing, virtualized networking and virtualized storage (DSaaS).
- Multi‑CSP and organization: multi‑cloud and inter‑cloud concepts, identity and policy considerations when using multiple CSPs, logical and physical organization (regions, availability domains/zones, edge computing, affinity, geo‑dispersion).
Practical applications - who uses it and why
ISO/IEC 22123-2:2023 is useful for:
- Cloud architects and engineers designing architectures, selecting service models and planning regions/zones.
- Cloud service providers documenting offerings, defining SLAs and aligning service categories.
- Procurement, legal and compliance teams preparing contracts, assessing regulatory and data protection obligations.
- Auditors and governance officers evaluating auditability, security, resiliency and interoperability.
- Standards writers and technical authors referencing consistent terminology for other cloud standards, technical specifications and guidance.
Benefits include improved clarity in contracts and design, consistent terminology across projects, and a common conceptual baseline for interoperability, security and compliance activities.
Related standards
- ISO/IEC 22123-1 (cloud computing vocabulary) - foundational vocabulary referenced by this part.
- Other ISO/IEC cloud and IT standards addressing security, interoperability, data protection and service management may be used alongside ISO/IEC 22123-2 for implementation and compliance.
