Provisioning

Provisioning is the process of preparing and supplying the necessary resources and services to users, systems, or organizations so that a function can be activated and used. In information technology, provisioning involves determining requirements, acquiring resources, configuring them, and making them available for operation. This includes compute, storage, networks, software licenses, and access credentials, and is often automated through orchestration and infrastructure as code.

There are several related forms of provisioning. Resource provisioning focuses on obtaining and configuring hardware and software resources such as virtual machines, containers, databases, and IP addresses. User provisioning covers the creation, maintenance, and revocation of user accounts and access rights across systems, frequently coordinated by identity and access management tools. Service provisioning refers to the setup of specific services (email, directories, databases, network services) for a user or organization, often via a catalog or self-service portal.

Provisioning follows a lifecycle that typically includes request, approval, provisioning, activation, ongoing management, and deprovisioning when resources are no longer needed. In cloud computing, on-demand and elastic provisioning enables rapid scaling and pay-as-you-go consumption. In telecommunications, provisioning is the preparation of network services and circuits for activation, often through remote configuration of devices.

In supply chain and operations, provisioning may also describe stock planning and the allocation of inventory to meet forecasted demand. Across all domains, provisioning emphasizes governance, traceability, security, and automation to ensure consistency and auditable change management.