What is a company that offers cloud computing services referred to as?

A company that offers cloud computing services is referred to as a cloud provider. Cloud providers deliver a variety of services over the internet, such as Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), Software as a Service (SaaS), and Platform as a Service (PaaS). They manage the underlying infrastructure, such as servers, storage, and networking, allowing customers to access resources on demand without needing to maintain physical hardware themselves.

This term is crucial in understanding the cloud computing landscape, as it encapsulates any organization that provides scalable and flexible computing services to businesses and individuals. By identifying these companies as cloud providers, it establishes a clear distinction from roles such as network administrators, who typically manage the network's operation but do not offer cloud services themselves, or IT service managers, who oversee IT services within an organization. Similarly, a data center refers specifically to the physical facility that houses the cloud infrastructure, not the service provider itself.