A Standard Definition for The Cloud

You probably know that I’m a huge fan of standardization in helping us speak a common language – not just the same words, but the same meaning.  When I talk about Contentious Issues, one of the key points I make is that most debates among the data professional crowd is due to the fact that we don’t do a good job of defining our terms. This is a clear case of cobbler’s children having no shoes.

One of the primary organizations for managing standards is the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).  NIST has drafted a special publication on The NIST Definition of Cloud Computing.  It’s short — only 3 pages.  This paper outlines the essential characteristics of the Cloud:

On-demand self-service.

Broad network access.

Resource pooling.

Rapid elasticity.

Measured Service.

Now when someone uses "Cloud" to mean just the web, any application, or a websites, you can point them to the proper definition of the term.