Provisioning (Computing)

What Does Provisioning (Computing) Mean?

Provisioning is the process of configuring and deploying an information technology (IT) system resource either locally or in the cloud. In enterprise computing, the term is often associated with virtual machines (VMs) and cloud resource instances.

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The process of removing an IT resource from a system is called de-provisioning.

Techopedia Explains Provisioning (Computing)

Provisioning provides equipment, software, or services to customers, users, employees or IT personnel.

Provisioning in Information Technology

In an enterprise computing context, provisioning is frequently divided into the following subsets:

  • Network provisioning
  • Server provisioning
  • User provisioning
  • Self-service provisioning
  • Subscriber provisioning
  • Mobile device provisioning
  • Internet access provisioning

Types of Provisioning

Cloud provisioning – describes the processes of deploying and integrating cloud services within an enterprise IT infrastructure.

Self-Provisioning – a feature among many cloud service providers that allows customers to spin up (provision) resources without the help of dedicated IT personnel or the service providers themselves.

Thin provisioning – a storage area network (SAN) management process in which the storage capacity for a device is reserved and allocated on demand through a shared storage pool.

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Margaret Rouse

Margaret Rouse is an award-winning technical writer and teacher known for her ability to explain complex technical subjects to a non-technical, business audience. Over the past twenty years her explanations have appeared on TechTarget websites and she's been cited as an authority in articles by the New York Times, Time Magazine, USA Today, ZDNet, PC Magazine and Discovery Magazine.Margaret's idea of a fun day is helping IT and business professionals learn to speak each other’s highly specialized languages. If you have a suggestion for a new definition or how to improve a technical explanation, please email Margaret or contact her…