Service provider

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 I: internal service provider
• Type II: shared service provider
• Type III: external service provider

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]

• Identity management
• Identity provider
• IP address
• SAML 2.0
• Service bureau
• Service system
• Outline of consulting
• Web service

• Hall, Mark (7 February 2000). "Service Providers Give Users More IT Options". Computerworld: 40.
• "Mapping the xSP world". CIO: S8 – S10. 15 September 2001.

• Media related to Service companies at Wikimedia Commons

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