= Broad network access
<Broad network access> means cloud capabilities are reachable over a network through standard mechanisms usable by different kinds of client platforms. NIST lists phones, tablets, laptops and workstations as examples.<The NIST Definition of Cloud Computing by Peter Mell and Timothy Grance>[§2, Broad network access]{ref}
For example, a browser interface and an <application programming interface> can expose the same service to interactive users and automated analyses. Network accessibility does not imply public <authorization>: a private cloud can restrict authenticated clients while still using broadly supported network <application programming interfaces>[interfaces]. <latency (engineering)>[Latency], <bandwidth> and intermittent connectivity affect how an application should divide work between client and service; an accessible remote operation is not equivalent to a local memory access.
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