Ethical Hacking Essentials Practice Test 2026 – The Complete Guide to Exam Success!

The cloud consumer is the entity that interacts with and uses cloud services provided by cloud service providers (CSPs). In the context of the NIST cloud deployment reference architecture, the cloud consumer maintains a business relationship with cloud service providers, which is essential for accessing and utilizing cloud services effectively. This relationship includes negotiating terms of service, understanding pricing models, and managing service-level agreements (SLAs).

The cloud consumer is typically an organization or individual that relies on cloud services to fulfill their computing needs, and their activities often involve selecting and engaging with CSPs based on their specific requirements. This includes considerations like compliance, data management, and security, which are crucial for effective cloud deployment.

In contrast, other actors, such as the cloud auditor, cloud carrier, and cloud service provider, play different roles. The cloud auditor evaluates the services and compliance aspects, the cloud carrier provides connectivity between consumers and providers, while the cloud service provider is the entity that offers the actual services and infrastructure. However, it is the cloud consumer that primarily maintains the business relationship with the service providers, making it a key player in the ecosystem.