Explanation/Reference:
Explanation:
Security Assertion Markup Language (SAML) is the most common data format for information exchange within a federated identity system. It is used to transmit and exchange authentication and authorization data.XML is similar to SAML, but it's used for general-purpose data encoding and labeling and is not used for the exchange of authentication and authorization data in the way that SAML is for federated systems.
JSON is used similarly to XML, as a text-based data exchange format that typically uses attribute-value pairings, but it's not used for authentication and authorization exchange. HTML is used only for encoding web pages for web browsers and is not used for data exchange--and certainly not in a federated system.

Explanation/Reference:
Explanation:
According to the MSP Alliance, typically MSPs have the following distinguishing characteristics:
- Have some form of NOC service
- Have some form of help desk service
- Can remotely monitor and manage all or a majority of the objects for the customer
- Can proactively maintain the objects under management for the customer
- Can deliver these solutions with some form of predictable billing model, where the customer knows with great accuracy what her regular IT management expense will be

With cloud providers hosting a number of different customers, it would be impractical for them to pursue additional certifications based on the needs of a specific customer. Cloud environments are built to a common denominator to serve the greatest number of customers. Especially within a public cloud model, it is not possible or practical for a cloud provider to alter its services for specific customer demands.
Resource pooling and virtualization within a cloud environment would be the same for all customers, and would not impact certifications that a cloud provider might be willing to pursue. Regulations would form the basis for certification problems and would be a reason for a cloud provider to pursue specific certifications to meet customer requirements.

Explanation
Cloud environments, regardless of the specific deployment model used, have extensive and robust security controls in place, especially in regard to physical and infrastructure security. A small company can leverage the extensive security controls and monitoring provided by a cloud provider, which they would unlikely ever be able to afford on their own. Moving to a cloud would not result in any gains for development and testing because these areas require the same rigor regardless of where deployment and hosting occur. Regulatory compliance in a cloud would not be a gain for an organization because it would likely result in additional oversight and auditing as well as require the organization to adapt to a new environment.

The best practice is to totally remove any unneeded services and utilities on a system to prevent any chance of compromise or use. If they are just disabled, it is possible for them to be inadvertently started again at any point, or another exploit could be used to start them again.
Removing also negates the need to patch and maintain them going forward.