Cloud User Roles: Establishing Standards for Describing Core Tasks of Cloud Creators, Providers, and Consumers

In order to design, build, and provide cloud based solutions that best meet customers´ needs, it is essential to understand the skills, goals, primary tasks, and responsibilities of the people or organizations involved throughout the cloud service lifecycle. At IBM^®, we developed a set of user roles that are used to describe the tasks of the people who interact with a cloud based Information Technology system. The three core roles of Cloud Service Creator, Cloud Service Provider, and Cloud Service Consumer create the base for reflecting the close interaction between developers, providers, and consumers in order to achieve the optimum service flow. The development of a single role as well as the entire taxonomy of roles is guided by a framework of well-defined principles.