Service provider (original) (raw)

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Organization that provides services to other organizations

A service provider (SP) is an organization that provides services, such as consulting, legal, real estate, communications, storage, and processing services, to other organizations. Although a service provider can be a sub-unit of the organization that it serves, it is usually a third-party or outsourced supplier. Examples include telecommunications service providers (TSPs), application service providers (ASPs), storage service providers (SSPs), and internet service providers (ISPs).[_citation needed_] A more traditional term is service bureau.

IT professionals sometimes differentiate between service providers by categorizing them as type I, II, or III.[1] The three service types are recognized by the IT industry although specifically defined by ITIL and the U.S. Telecommunications Act of 1996.

Type III SPs provide IT services to external customers and subsequently can be referred to as external service providers (ESPs)[2] which range from a full IT organization/service outsource via managed services or MSPs (managed service providers) to limited product feature delivery via ASPs (application service providers).[3]

  1. ^ Stuart Rance and Ashley Hanna (30 May 2007). "Glossary of Terms, Definitions and Acronyms" (PDF). ITIL - IT Service Management. Office of Government Commerce. Archived from the original (PDF) on 21 October 2007. Retrieved 3 June 2012.
  2. ^ Staff (2011). "External Service Provider (ITILv3)". Knowledge Transfer. Archived from the original on 25 May 2012. Retrieved 3 June 2012.
  3. ^ Barry J. (23 January 2012). "IT Policies - Policy on Use of External Services". The University of Chicago. Retrieved 3 June 2012.