This document provides guidance on the use of international standards as a tool in the development of those policies that govern or regulate cloud service providers (CSPs) and cloud services, and those policies and practices that govern the use of cloud services in organisations.

This includes material that explains cloud computing concepts and the role of cloud computing international standards in formulating policies and practices.

The document makes references to various international standards. Where possible, these standards are ISO/IEC standards. Where a suitable ISO/IEC standard is not available, references are made to documents published by other WTO-registered standards bodies.

As explained in the WTO Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT), standards play a vital role in supporting technical regulations and conformity assessment, however this document does not cover matters of trade.