Modern use cases of cloud and edge, such as the use of AI (Artificial Intelligence), can face limitations when users are restricted to specific providers, reducing their freedom of choice. In the “Multi Provider Cloud Edge Continuum” users have the opportunity to seamlessly use various cloud and edge offerings from different providers simultaneously. This requires not only technical connections but also changes in the requirements for Service Level Agreements (SLAs).
By Emma Wehrwein and Oliver Schonschek
Innovative projects thrive on flexibility, but they can face significant challenges when constrained by limited choices in cloud and edge computing. Companies should have the freedom to select the best provider for each task, whether it is collecting and processing training data at the edge or running AI models in the cloud. However, proprietary solutions often make it difficult to seamlessly integrate services from different providers, leading to technical, organizational, and contractual complexities.
SLAs Ensure Transparency and Strengthen Trust
To foster successful innovation, businesses require transparency into available services and their performance. They must also trust that the cloud or edge solutions they choose meet essential security and compliance requirements. Service Level Agreements (SLAs) play a key role in enabling this transparency and trust.
Making such agreements (SLAs) is especially important, when many providers join a collaborative ecosystem so that many processes can work seamlessly together.
An SLA defines the expected service quality and ensures clarity on key performance indicators. In Cloud Computing, this includes Service Level Objectives (SLOs) such as latency, bandwidth, throughput, availability, response time, and error rates. Additionally, security and compliance requirements, such as access control, data protection, and regulatory adherence are essential components of SLAs. Making such agreements is especially important, when many providers join a collaborative ecosystem so that many processes can work seamlessly together.
Cloud-Edge Continuum for More Compatibility of Business Services
In a so-called Multi-Provider Cloud-Edge Continuum cross-provider workload management and data processing is enabled through open-source collaboration and interoperability, laying the foundation for innovative projects. To achieve this, the different cloud and edge services from different providers must be orchestrated, ensuring reliable connectivity and compatibility.
In a well-functioning cloud edge continuum, data and applications are dynamically placed at edge locations (close to data producer and service consumers) or in the cloud, depending on specific performance, latency, and security requirements. This allows for real-time data processing at the edge, where immediate responses are crucial – such as in autonomous driving – while less time- and security-critical tasks can be performed in the cloud. Thus, in a functioning multi-provider cloud-edge continuum, all components – ranging from network and internet node operators, internet service providers and telecommunications companies, hosting services, cloud and edge facility providers, or providers of advanced services and applications – must work together. By eliminating unnecessary barriers and enhancing compatibility, the Cloud-Edge Continuum empowers businesses with greater freedom of choice, enhanced trust and full insight in their digital operations.
To bring the world’s first Multi-Provider Cloud-Edge Continuum to life, the EU initiative IPCEI-CIS (Important Project of Common European Interest – Next Generation Cloud Infrastructure and Services) is developing solutions that seamlessly connect cloud and edge infrastructures.
Currently, twelve EU member states are working together to build a powerful and sustainable multi-provider cloud-edge continuum for Europe. Over 150 partners are involved in this project across Europe.
By eliminating unnecessary barriers and enhancing compatibility, the Cloud-Edge Continuum empowers businesses with greater freedom of choice, enhanced trust and full insight in their digital operations.
To unite the necessary projects of IPCEI-CIS, the participants have launched the 8ra Initiative. This includes the FACIS project (Federation Architecture for Composition of Infrastructure Services) led by eco – Association of the Internet Industry. By leveraging technologies like Federation Architecture Patterns (FAPs), machine-readable Service Level Agreements (SLAs), and low-code orchestration platforms, FACIS supports multi-provider infrastructures to operate as a cohesive, scalable, and secure ecosystem. The FACIS project uses existing FOSS technologies (Free and Open-Source Software) such as the XFSC Orchestrator and deliberately excludes the development of proprietary solutions that do not comply with FOSS principles. One central pillar is the development of multi-provider Service Level Agreements (SLAs) with joint governance. This combined approach contributes to comparability, transparency, and trust within the cloud-edge continuum.
SLAs and Security Play a Central Role in the Cloud-Edge Continuum
SLAs play a crucial role in establishing a reliable security foundation for trustworthy business models and processes. A key component of SLAs is Security Service Level Agreements (SSLAs) or SecLAs which specify security requirements such as for vulnerability and patch management, access protection and authorization, the use of cryptographic solutions, and the agreed notification of security-relevant incidents.
SLAs play a crucial role in establishing a reliable security foundation for trustworthy business models and processes.
In a cloud-edge continuum, SLAs and their security agreements must consider additional challenges due to the heterogeneous and dynamic nature of the environment. Each component and service may have distinct security requirements that evolve over time, necessitating flexible and scalable SLA definitions.
To ensure transparency and traceability, the security requirements in the SLAs must be measurable and verifiable. This means implementing automated monitoring, reporting, and enforcement mechanisms to continuously access compliance with agreed security metrics. Given the complexity and dynamic nature of cloud-edge environments, automation is essential for efficiently managing SLA verification and control processes.
SLA Management in the Cloud-Edge Continuum
The management of SLAs in a cloud-edge continuum is particularly challenging, as SLAs must be as interoperable, dynamic, and adaptable – just like the services and infrastructure they govern. To address this, the FACIS project is developing an SLA governance framework, working toward harmonized, machine-readable SLAs and corresponding blueprints. This supports comprehensive, automatable monitoring of SLAs by users of the heterogeneous and dynamic cloud-edge continuum.
The FACIS project is developing an SLA governance framework, working toward harmonized, machine-readable SLAs and corresponding blueprints.
The FACIS project defines specific, reusable service groups with tailored SLAs, acting as modular building blocks for dynamically composed infrastructures and services. Depending on user needs, both cloud and edge services can be flexibly combined into customized service bundles and with appropriate SLAs. This approach allows future providers and users to seamlessly offer and consume cross-provider services in a standardized and verifiable way. For example, AI services from one provider’s cloud can securely leverage training data from another provider´s edge infrastructure.
Every Month on LinkedIn and www.facis.eu
Every month, we will guide you through the world of FACIS on LinkedIn and www.facis.eu. Our analyses give background and insights into the security aspects of FACIS and its mission to create a unified, scalable, and sovereign multi-provider cloud-edge continuum.
Heading this series of articles is Emma Wehrwein. Emma is Senior Manager Innovation & Digital Ecosystems at eco, the Internet Industry Association, and is the Project Lead at FACIS. She studied business informatics and worked for many years as a project manager in the chemical industry before joining eco. She led the BMWK-funded project to develop the first Gaia-X Federation Services now contributing to the Eclipse Foundation’s ecosystem as the XFSC Project. Emma Wehrwein is supported on this blog by Oliver Schonschek, a security news analyst, physicist and journalist who has been writing about security and digital transformation for twenty years.
Project Lead FACIS
Security & Digital Transformation Journalist