• Rapid elasticity: Cloud computing resources can be elastically provisioned and released. They can be scaled in the following ways:
  • Manual scaling: This is where the organization's operations team anticipates future workloads in the cloud environment and adds resources manually to support the organization's mission.
  • Semi-automated scaling: This type of scaling still requires forecasting to ensure that resources exist and are built to support an organization's information system. Based on system events, new services, such as virtual servers to take the application's load, will be initialized.
  • Fully-automated (elastic) scaling: This type of scaling allows an organization to increase or reduce capacity without the need to perform the manual labor and configuration necessary to establish the infrastructure ahead of time.

The organization has the capability of controlling the elasticity of the system so that the system does not grow out of control, causing a great fiscal impact.

• Broad network access: Access to the cloud resources is provided over the various network and user access devices, such as:
  • Workstations
  • Laptops
  • Mobile phones
  • Thin clients

A properly architected cloud environment provides increased network access and scalability.

• On-demand self-service: This refers to an organization's ability to provision cloud computing capabilities to include:
  • Storage
  • Processors
  • Memory
  • Guests

This callability can be executed without requiring human interaction from the cloud services provider.

• Resource pooling: The cloud provider utilizes a multitenant architecture where computing resources are pooled to serve multiple organizations. Pooled resources include:
  • Storage
  • Processing
  • Memory
  • Network bandwidth

Physical and virtual resources are dynamically assigned and reassigned based on the organization's requirements. The organization typically has no control over the exact physical location where services are provided. Based on the cloud service provider and the organization's requirements, the organization may be able to specify geographic locations at elevated levels in the contract, such as:

• • State
  • Country
  • Data center

• Measured service: Pooled cloud computing resources are monitored and reported to the organization, providing:
  • Visibility into the consumption of cloud computing resources and their associated costs
  • Accurate measurement of cloud computing resource consumption
  • Transparency for both the provider and consumer of the cloud computing service