Cloud service selection using cloud service brokers: approaches and challenges

Cloud computing users are faced with a wide variety of services to choose from. Consequently, a number of cloud service brokers (CSBs) have emerged to help users in their service selection process. This paper reviews the recent approaches that have been introduced and used for cloud service brokerage and discusses their challenges accordingly. We propose a set of attributes for a CSB to be considered effective. Different CSBs’ approaches are classified as either single service or multiple service models. The CSBs are then assessed, analyzed, and compared with respect to the proposed set of attributes. Based on our studies, CSBs with multiple service models that support more of the proposed effective CSB attributes have wider application in cloud computing environments.