What is Cloud Service Provider?

A cloud service provider or cloud provider is an organisation or entity that offers cloud computing products and services to businesses and individuals alike. A CSP generally provides three types of services:

• Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS)
• Software as a Service (SaaS) 
• Platform as a Service (PaaS)

Points to Remember

• Generally, services provided by cloud providers are available as an on-demand and pay-per-use purchase. However, cloud providers may also offer some of their services on a subscription basis.
• A cloud service provider can fulfil his role as a private cloud provider, a public cloud provider, a hybrid cloud provider or as a community cloud provider.

Examples

• There are several cloud service providers in the market. Amazon Web Services (AWS) [link to #1.4] is one the most popular cloud providers that offers its services to millions of customers around the globe.
• Other renowned cloud providers are Cisco, Google Cloud Platform, Oracle, Rackspace, IBM (SoftLayer), Citrix, Microsoft Azure [link to #1.5], SAP and Verizon.