On-demand self-service – A vCloud service needs to be designed and developed to allow for on-demand provisioning via a service catalog that uses automated workflows with minimal human interaction from the service’s provider side.

Service Mobility – Services should be designed to be accessible via multiple end user computing mobility platforms such as tablets, phones and other thin or thick end-user platforms.

Resource pooling – Services should designed to be able to use pooled computing resources, not bound to physical infrastructure. There should be a sense of location independence—the service consumer generally has no control or knowledge over the exact location of the provided resources.

Rapid elasticity – Services should be able to use the vCloud elastic and bursting feature to support high utilization timeframes. Services should be designed to automatically scale and release computing resources.

Measured service – Services must be designed with ability to leverage metering capability based on service consumption. This is critical to make the service a viable business investment for the service provider. This feature is at the heart of the Service Showback and Metering process.