Overview
ISO/IEC 5140:2024 - Information technology - Cloud computing - Concepts for multi-cloud and the use of multiple cloud services specifies foundational concepts for using multiple cloud services, including multi-cloud, hybrid cloud, inter-cloud and federated cloud. It builds on the ISO/IEC 22123 vocabulary and establishes a common conceptual framework to describe roles, interactions, characteristics, benefits and considerations when cloud service customers (CSCs) and cloud service providers (CSPs) use services from multiple CSPs.
Key topics
This standard focuses on conceptual and foundational material rather than prescriptive implementation details. Major technical topics include:
- Terminology and notation: aligned with ISO/IEC 22123-1 to ensure consistent use of terms such as CSC, CSP, CSN, CSF, SLA and SO.
- Interactions among parties: patterns of engagement between customers, providers and partners when multiple CSPs are involved.
- Multi-cloud concepts: sub‑types (e.g., CSC‑mediated, CSP‑connected), characteristics, benefits (resilience, cost optimisation, geographic reach) and operational considerations.
- Federated cloud (CSF): characteristics of cloud service federations, membership models, shared resource metadata and discovery mechanisms, governance and CSF domains.
- Hybrid cloud: defining hybrid cloud characteristics, management aspects and hybrid multi-cloud scenarios.
- Inter-cloud: high‑level characteristics, benefits and considerations when CSPs consume services from other CSPs.
- Management and governance: multi-cloud and federated cloud management roles and sub‑roles (operator, manager, auditor, broker), topologies, and administrative/regulatory domains.
- Use cases: Annex A provides informative use cases for multi-cloud management to illustrate practical scenarios.
Practical applications
ISO/IEC 5140:2024 is intended to guide stakeholders who design, procure, operate or regulate cloud solutions that span multiple providers. Typical uses:
- Create a shared vocabulary and conceptual model for enterprise cloud architectures using multi-cloud or hybrid cloud patterns.
- Inform cloud governance, risk and compliance (GRC) decisions on data residency, SLAs and identity across multiple CSPs.
- Assist CSPs and cloud integrators in defining federation membership, resource discovery and governance models.
- Support procurement teams and architects in scoping requirements for multi-provider solutions and assessing management complexity.
Who should use this standard
- Cloud architects and enterprise IT leaders
- Cloud service providers and platform engineers
- Cloud service brokers and integrators
- Compliance, legal and procurement teams
- Standards bodies and auditors
Related standards
- ISO/IEC 22123-1 (vocabulary) - normative reference used to align definitions and terms.
Keywords: ISO/IEC 5140:2024, multi-cloud, hybrid cloud, federated cloud, inter-cloud, cloud service provider, cloud governance, cloud management, cloud SLAs.
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