ISO/IEC TR 23613:2020

Information technology - Cloud computing - Cloud service metering elements and billing modes

This document describes a sample set of cloud service metering elements and billing modes.

Titre manque

General Information

• Status: Published
• Publication Date: 10-May-2020
• ICS: 35.210 - Cloud computing
• Technical Committee: ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 38 - Cloud computing and distributed platforms
• Drafting Committee: ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 38/WG 3 - Cloud Computing Fundamentals (CCF)
• Current Stage: 6060 - International Standard published
• Start Date: 11-May-2020
• Completion Date: 11-May-2020

Overview

ISO/IEC TR 23613:2020 is a Technical Report that provides a sample set of cloud service metering elements and billing modes. Published in 2020 by ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 38, it clarifies how cloud services can be measured and billed across the three cloud capability types: infrastructure, platform, and application. The report explains the billing functional component (metering, rating, pricing schedules and invoicing), describes common billing modes, and gives practical examples of metering elements and metering units.

Key topics and requirements

• Billing functional components: Defines metering as the measurement of consumption, rating as application of pricing schedules to metered data, and invoicing based on rated charges.
• Billing modes: Two fundamental modes are described:
  • Subscription billing - charges based on contractual/periodic indicators.
  • Usage billing - charges based on actual measured consumption. Modes can be combined (e.g., subscription up to a limit, then usage billing).
• Metering elements and units: Sample metering elements are grouped by cloud capability type and include unit suggestions (e.g., Byte, Second, bits/second, N/A for pure counts).
  • Infrastructure examples: CPU core count, memory capacity (Byte), storage capacity (Byte), operating time (Second), IOPS, throughput (Byte/second), IP address counts, virtual firewall throughput.
  • Platform examples: message service instance count, cache size (Byte), instance running time (Second), processed requests, database connection count.
  • Application examples: API call number/frequency, dataset size (Byte), running time (Second), tenant count.
• Metering sampling guidance: Recommendations for sample collection, specifying sampling time/contents/methods/accuracy, using collection and billing tools and providing sampling and billing data.
• Reference scope: The document references ISO/IEC 17788 (overview & vocabulary) and ISO/IEC 17789 (reference architecture) and aligns with other cloud taxonomy work (e.g., ISO/IEC TS 23167).

Applications and users

ISO/IEC TR 23613:2020 is practical for:

• Cloud service providers (CSPs) designing transparent metering and billing schemes.
• Cloud service customers (CSCs) evaluating and comparing provider billing practices and contracts.
• Cloud architects and DevOps teams setting up monitoring and billing-aware resource usage.
• Billing system vendors, auditors and procurement teams who need consistent metering definitions for invoicing, SLAs and cost analysis.
• Regulators and standards bodies seeking harmonized terminology and examples.

Related standards

• ISO/IEC 17788 - Cloud computing: Overview and vocabulary
• ISO/IEC 17789 - Cloud computing: Reference architecture
• ISO/IEC TS 23167 - (referenced for resource descriptions)

Keywords: ISO/IEC TR 23613:2020, cloud metering, cloud billing, metering elements, billing modes, CSP, CSC, subscription billing, usage billing, metering unit.

Standards Content (Sample)

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 2020
© ISO/IEC 2020
All rights reserved. Unless otherwise specified, or required in the context of its implementation, no part of this publication may
be reproduced or utilized otherwise in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, or posting
on the internet or an intranet, without prior written permission. Permission can be requested from either ISO at the address
below or ISO’s member body in the country of the requester.
ISO copyright office
CP 401 • Ch. de Blandonnet 8
CH-1214 Vernier, Geneva
Phone: [phone]
Fax: [phone]
Email: [e-mail]
Website: www.iso.org
Published in Switzerland
ii © ISO/IEC 2020 – All rights reserved

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
© ISO/IEC 2020 – All rights reserved iii

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).
Any trade name used in this document is information given for the convenience of users and does not
constitute an endorsement.
For an explanation of the voluntary nature of standards, the meaning of ISO specific terms and
expressions related to conformity assessment, as well as information about ISO's adherence to the
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.
iv © ISO/IEC 2020 – All rights reserved

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.
© ISO/IEC 2020 – All rights reserved v

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
© ISO/IEC 2020 – All rights reserved 1

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
...