<s>
Cloud	B-General_Concept
Broker	I-General_Concept
is	O
an	O
entity	O
that	O
manages	O
the	O
use	O
,	O
performance	O
and	O
delivery	O
of	O
cloud	B-Architecture
services	I-Architecture
,	O
and	O
negotiates	O
relationships	O
between	O
cloud	O
providers	O
and	O
cloud	O
consumers	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
As	O
cloud	B-Architecture
computing	I-Architecture
evolves	O
,	O
the	O
integration	O
of	O
cloud	B-Architecture
services	I-Architecture
may	O
be	O
too	O
complex	O
for	O
cloud	O
consumers	O
to	O
manage	O
alone	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
such	O
cases	O
,	O
a	O
cloud	O
consumer	O
may	O
request	O
cloud	B-Architecture
services	I-Architecture
from	O
a	O
cloud	B-General_Concept
broker	I-General_Concept
,	O
instead	O
of	O
contacting	O
a	O
cloud	O
provider	O
directly	O
,	O
"	O
according	O
to	O
NIST	O
Cloud	B-Architecture
Computing	I-Architecture
Reference	O
Architecture	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Cloud	B-General_Concept
Brokers	I-General_Concept
provides	O
a	O
single	O
point	O
of	O
entry	O
to	O
manage	O
multiple	O
cloud	B-Architecture
services	I-Architecture
for	O
business	O
or	O
technical	O
purposes	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
two	O
important	O
unique	O
features	O
of	O
a	O
cloud	B-General_Concept
broker	I-General_Concept
are	O
the	O
ability	O
to	O
provide	O
a	O
single	O
consistent	O
interface	B-Application
to	O
multiple	O
differing	O
cloud	O
providers	O
and	O
the	O
clear	O
visibility	O
that	O
the	O
broker	O
allows	O
into	O
which	O
company	O
is	O
providing	O
the	O
services	O
in	O
the	O
background	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
general	O
,	O
cloud	B-General_Concept
brokers	I-General_Concept
provide	O
services	O
in	O
three	O
categories	O
:	O
</s>
<s>
Aggregation	O
:	O
A	O
cloud	B-General_Concept
broker	I-General_Concept
combines	O
and	O
integrates	O
multiple	O
services	O
into	O
one	O
or	O
more	O
new	O
services	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Intermediation	O
:	O
A	O
cloud	B-General_Concept
broker	I-General_Concept
enhances	O
a	O
given	O
service	O
by	O
improving	O
some	O
specific	O
capability	O
and	O
providing	O
value-added	O
services	O
to	O
cloud	O
consumers	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
improvement	O
can	O
be	O
managing	O
access	O
to	O
cloud	B-Architecture
services	I-Architecture
,	O
identity	O
management	O
,	O
performance	O
reporting	O
,	O
enhanced	O
security	O
,	O
etc	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Benefits	O
of	O
using	O
a	O
cloud	B-General_Concept
broker	I-General_Concept
for	O
a	O
business	O
or	O
technical	O
purpose	O
include	O
the	O
following	O
:	O
</s>
<s>
Cloud	O
portability	O
-	O
Move	O
application(s )	O
between	O
different	O
cloud	B-Architecture
vendors	I-Architecture
.	O
</s>
<s>
Cost	O
savings	O
-	O
Most	O
IaaS	B-Architecture
clouds	O
offer	O
significant	O
volume	O
discounts	O
to	O
those	O
who	O
have	O
purchased	O
a	O
large	O
number	O
of	O
instances	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
For	O
example	O
,	O
Amazon	B-Application
provides	O
20%	O
or	O
even	O
higher	O
volume	O
discounts	O
in	O
Amazon	B-General_Concept
Elastic	I-General_Concept
Compute	I-General_Concept
Cloud	I-General_Concept
(	O
EC2	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Due	O
to	O
the	O
sheer	O
volume	O
of	O
the	O
aggregated	O
demand	O
,	O
the	O
cloud	B-General_Concept
broker	I-General_Concept
can	O
easily	O
qualify	O
for	O
such	O
discounts	O
,	O
which	O
further	O
reduces	O
the	O
cost	O
of	O
serving	O
all	O
the	O
users	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Pay	O
for	O
what	O
is	O
needed	O
:	O
Cloud	B-General_Concept
brokers	I-General_Concept
provide	O
a	O
selected	O
assortment	O
of	O
services	O
required	O
by	O
the	O
consumer	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Despite	O
the	O
benefits	O
that	O
cloud	B-General_Concept
broker	I-General_Concept
can	O
provide	O
,	O
there	O
are	O
also	O
concerns	O
related	O
to	O
the	O
use	O
of	O
a	O
cloud	B-General_Concept
broker	I-General_Concept
:	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
greatest	O
drawback	O
in	O
using	O
a	O
cloud	B-General_Concept
broker	I-General_Concept
is	O
business	O
reliance	O
on	O
the	O
broker	O
to	O
be	O
continuously	O
up	O
to	O
date	O
on	O
new	O
cloud	B-Architecture
technologies	I-Architecture
,	O
options	O
and	O
offerings	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Using	O
a	O
cloud	B-General_Concept
broker	I-General_Concept
also	O
adds	O
complexity	O
in	O
maintaining	O
an	O
organization	O
's	O
security	O
requirements	O
throughout	O
the	O
entire	O
delivery	O
chain	O
as	O
the	O
broker	O
adds	O
a	O
layer	O
between	O
the	O
cloud	B-Architecture
service	I-Architecture
providers	I-Architecture
and	O
the	O
organization	O
.	O
</s>
