scope:

This standard defines topology, functions, and governance for cloud-to-cloud interoperability and federation. Topological elements include clouds, methods for mediating governance between clouds, and data exchange between clouds. Functional elements include name spaces, presence, messaging, resource metadata and trust infrastructure. Governance elements include registration, geo-independence, and trust anchors. The standard does not address intra-cloud (within cloud) operation, as this is cloud implementation-specific, nor does it address proprietary hybrid-cloud implementations. An API for a core set of federation functions is defined. This core set covers identity, authentication, and policy-based authorization for resource discovery and resource access. This standard lays the foundation for cloud-to-cloud federation and interoperability.

Purpose

This standard creates an economy among cloud providers that is transparent to users and applications, which provides for a dynamic infrastructure that can support evolving business models.