ISO/IEC TR 23613:2020

TECHNICAL ISO/IEC TR
REPORT 23613
First edition
2020-05
Information technology — Cloud
computing — Cloud service metering
elements and billing modes
Reference number
ISO/IEC TR 23613:2020(E)
©
ISO/IEC 2020

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ISO/IEC TR 23613:2020(E)

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ISO/IEC TR 23613:2020(E)

Contents Page
Foreword .iv
Introduction .v
1 Scope . 1
2 Normative references . 1
3 Terms and definitions . 1
4 Abbreviated terms . 1
5 Cloud service metering and billing concepts . 2
6 Metering elements . 2
6.1 Cloud service metering elements for infrastructure capabilities type . 2
6.2 Cloud service metering elements for platform capabilities type . 4
6.3 Cloud service metering elements for application capabilities type . 5
7 Cloud service metering and billing . 6
7.1 Metering elements sampling. 6
7.2 Metering unit . 6
7.3 Billing modes . 6
7.4 Billing strategies of metering elements . 6
Bibliography . 7
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ISO/IEC TR 23613:2020(E)

Foreword
ISO (the International Organization for Standardization) and IEC (the International Electrotechnical
Commission) form the specialized system for worldwide standardization. National bodies that
are members of ISO or IEC participate in the development of International Standards through
technical committees established by the respective organization to deal with particular fields of
technical activity. ISO and IEC technical committees collaborate in fields of mutual interest. Other
international organizations, governmental and non-governmental, in liaison with ISO and IEC, also
take part in the work.
The procedures used to develop this document and those intended for its further maintenance are
described in the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 1. In particular, the different approval criteria needed for
the different types of document should be noted. This document was drafted in accordance with the
editorial rules of the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 2 (see www .iso .org/ directives).
Attention is drawn to the possibility that some of the elements of this document may be the subject
of patent rights. ISO and IEC shall not be held responsible for identifying any or all such patent
rights. Details of any patent rights identified during the development of the document will be in the
Introduction and/or on the ISO list of patent declarations received (see www .iso .org/ patents) or the IEC
list of patent declarations received (see http:// patents .iec .ch).
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World Trade Organization (WTO) principles in the Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT), see www .iso .org/
iso/ foreword .html.
This document was prepared by Joint Technical Committee ISO/IEC JTC 1, Information technology,
Subcommittee SC 38, Cloud computing and distributed platforms.
Any feedback or questions on this document should be directed to the user’s national standards body. A
complete listing of these bodies can be found at www .iso .org/ members .html.
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ISO/IEC TR 23613:2020(E)

Introduction
As the adoption of cloud computing expands and the market grows, cloud service providers (CSPs)
offer many different cloud services that can be classified as infrastructure, platform or application
capabilities types. CSPs, in designing solutions to meet the needs of cloud service customers (CSCs),
put together diverse metering elements and billing modes that complement the cloud services offered
to cloud service customers (CSCs). It is challenging for CSCs to determine the differences among many
diverse metering elements and billing modes from various CSPs as they navigate their journey to adopt
cloud computing.
Measured service is one of the key characteristics of cloud computing (ISO/IEC 17788). The
characteristic is that usage is monitored, controlled, reported, and billed for the delivered cloud service.
To this end, it is necessary that usage can be monitored, controlled, reported, and billed for the delivered
cloud service. Metering elements can be classified according to its cloud capabilities type. Transparent
and scientific metering and billing results can be easily achieved if common operation practices apply.
The purpose of this document is to provide basic clarity and guidance through a sample set of cloud
service metering elements and billing modes for different cloud capabilities types. Clause 5 includes a
discussion of the billing functional component, of which metering is a major sub-component. Clause 6
introduces a sample set of metering elements. These examples can help a CSP better describe its billing
and metering practices and can help CSCs to better understand the metering and billing of their cloud
services in order to make informed decisions. Clause 7 explores some baseline guidance on cloud
service metering and billing.
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TECHNICAL REPORT ISO/IEC TR 23613:2020(E)
Information technology — Cloud computing — Cloud
service metering elements and billing modes
1 Scope
This document describes a sample set of cloud service metering elements and billing modes.
2 Normative references
The following documents are referred to in the text in such a way that some or all of their content
constitutes requirements of this document. For dated references, only the edition cited applies. For
undated references, the latest edition of the referenced document (including any amendments) applies.
ISO/IEC 17788, Information technology — Cloud computing — Overview and vocabulary
ISO/IEC 17789, Information technology — Cloud computing — Reference architecture
3 Terms and definitions
For the purposes of this document, the terms and definitions given in ISO/IEC 17788, ISO/IEC 17789
and the following apply.
ISO and IEC maintain terminological databases for use in standardization at the following addresses:
— ISO Online browsing platform: available at https:// www .iso .org/ obp
— IEC Electropedia: available at http:// www .electropedia .org/
3.1
metering unit
unit of measure for a metering element (3.2)
3.2
metering element
characteristic of a cloud service that is subject to being metered
4 Abbreviated terms
API Application Programming Interface
CSP Cloud Service Provider
CSC Cloud Service Customer
CPU Central Processing Unit
IOPS Input/Output Operations Per Second
IP Internet Protocol
QoS Quality of Service
SLA Service Level Agreement
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ISO/IEC TR 23613:2020(E)

5 Cloud service metering and billing concepts
According to ISO/IEC 17789, the billing functional component contains metering, rating, pricing
schedules and invoicing, as shown in Figure 1.
Figure 1 — Cloud service metering and billing concepts
Generally, there are two fundamental billing modes: billing by subscription and billing by usage.
Billing by subscription m
...