Updates to the NIST Cloud Computing Definition (v15)

The National Institute of Standards (NIST) has been taking a leading, independent role in defining cloud computing. Version 15 (v15), authored by Peter Mell and Tim Grance and dated 8-19-2009, is posted here: NIST Cloud Computing Definition (v15). If you have not had a chance to read any previous version of the NIST definition, start with this v15 definition.

Additionally, here is a copy of the v15 definition that shows changes relative to the previous version (v14): NIST Cloud Computing Definition Changes (v15 versus v14). If you want to understand the most recent changes, this is the version for you.

So, what is new with the v15 definition of cloud computing?

Frankly v15 does not contain a lot of substantial changes. And that is just fine. The definition seems to be maturing and stabilizing, so a major restructuring was not in order.

The most important change to note may simply be that the cloud computing "delivery models" (including software as a service, platform as a service, and infrastructure as a service) are now called "service models." Works for me. Calling them delivery models made less sense intuitively because the difference in these models was not really how they were delivered but the type of service they provided.

There were also many other lesser changes. They include minor wording corrections as well as deletion of too specific examples. If you're interested in this level of change, take a look at look at the document above that shows the detailed differences.