A service provider (SP) provides organizations with consulting, legal, real estate, communications, storage, processing. Although a service provider can be an organizational sub-unit, it is usually a third party or outsourced supplier, including telecommunications service providers (TSPs), application service providers (ASPs), storage service providers (SSPs), and internet service providers (ISPs). A more traditional term is service bureau (esp. 1960s to 1980s).
IT professionals sometimes differentiate between service providers by categorizing them as type I, II, or III.[1] The three service types are recognized by the IT industry although specifically defined by ITIL and the U.S. Telecommunications Act of 1996.
- Type I: internal service provider
- Type II: shared service provider
- Type III: external service provider
Type III SPs provide IT services to external customers and subsequently can be referred to as external service providers (ESPs)[2] which range from a full IT organization/service outsource via managed services or MSPs (managed service providers) to limited product feature delivery via ASPs (application service providers).[3]
Types of service providers
- Application service provider (ASP)
- Network service provider (NSP)
- Internet service provider (ISP)
- Managed service provider (MSP)
- Managed Security Service Provider (MSSP)
- Storage service provider (SSP)
- Telecommunications service provider (TSP)
- SAML service provider
- Master managed service provider (MMSP)
- Managed Internet service provider (MISP)
- Online service provider (OSP)
- Payment service provider (PSP)
- Cleaning service provider
- Gardening service provider
- Pest control service provider
- Software, platform, infrastructure service provider in cloud computing
- Application software service provider in a service-oriented architecture (ASSP)
- Cable Television service provider
See also
- IP address
- Service bureau
- Service system
- Web service
- Identity management
- SAML 2.0
- Identity provider
- Connectivity Integrator
References
- ^ Stuart Rance and Ashley Hanna (30 May 2007). "Glossary of Terms, Definitions and Acronyms" (PDF). ITIL - IT Service Management. Office of Government Commerce. Retrieved 3 June 2012.
- ^ Staff (2011). "External Service Provider (ITILv3)". Knowledge Transfer. Knowledge Transfer. Retrieved 3 June 2012.
- ^ Barry J. (23 January 2012). "IT Policies - Policy on Use of External Services". The University of Chicago. The University of Chicago. Retrieved 3 June 2012.
Further reading
- Hall, Mark (7 February 2000). "Service Providers Give Users More IT Options". Computerworld: 40.
- "Mapping the xSP world". CIO: S8–S10. 15 September 2001.