In any cloud computing environment, different organisations take on different roles. There are five key roles in the cloud: - **Cloud service providers** are the firms that *offer cloud computing services* to their customers. They may build their own datacenters or work hand in hand with other cloud providers to deliver their service, but their defining characteristic is they offer a cloud service for sale. - **Cloud consumers** are the organisations and individuals *who purchase cloud services* from cloud service providers. They use these services to meet their own business requirements. - **Cloud partners** (or cloud brokers) are organisations that *offer ancillary products or services that support or integrate* with the offerings of a cloud service provider. Cloud partners may offer training or consulting to help customers make use of a cloud service, provide software development and integration services, or perform any other service that facilitates the use of a cloud offering. - **Cloud auditors** are independent organisations that *provide third-party assessments* of cloud services and operations. Depending on the scope of the audit engagement, they may provide a general assessment of a cloud environment or focus on security controls for a narrow scope of operations. - **Cloud carriers** serve as the intermediaries that *provide the connectivity* that allows the delivery of cloud services from providers to consumers. >[!note] >The same organisation may take on **multiple roles**. For example, if an organisation purchases cloud infrastructure components from a cloud service provider, they are a cloud consumer. If they use those infrastructure components to build a cloud software application that they offer to their own customers, then they are also a cloud service provider themselves!