Service provider

Service Providers (SP) in the IT industry are usually entities that provide web services but can also include organizations providing communications, storage, or processing services. Examples of Service providers include Western Union, Telecommunications providers (TSP), Application service providers (ASP), Storage service providers (SSP), and Internet service providers (ISP).

IT professionals sometimes differentiate between Service Providers by categorizing them as Type I, II or III. Under the Telecommunications Act, Telecommunications Service Providers are Type I or Type II. Type III SP’s provide IT services to external customers and subsequently are referred to as External Service Providers (ESP) which broadly include Email Services like Gmail and Yahoo!; Web Services or Web Application providers like Facebook or Google Apps; ISP’s ( Internet Service Providers) and ASP’s (Application Service Providers).

Types of service providers

• Application service provider (ASP)
• Network service provider (NSP)
• Internet service provider (ISP)
• Managed service provider (MSP)
• Storage service provider (SSP)
• Telecommunications service provider (TSP)
• SAML service provider
• Master managed service provider (MMSP)
• Managed Internet service provider (MISP)

See also

• IP address
• Service system
• Web service
• Identity management
• SAML 2.0
• Identity provider