diff --git a/lib/vmpooler.rb b/lib/vmpooler.rb
index 26c3faf..953dac1 100644
--- a/lib/vmpooler.rb
+++ b/lib/vmpooler.rb
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ module Vmpooler
   require 'yaml'
   require 'set'
 
-  %w(api graphite logger pool_manager vsphere_helper statsd dummy_statsd).each do |lib|
+  %w(api graphite logger pool_manager vsphere_helper statsd dummy_statsd providers).each do |lib|
     begin
       require "vmpooler/#{lib}"
     rescue LoadError
diff --git a/lib/vmpooler/providers.rb b/lib/vmpooler/providers.rb
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..eb35436
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/vmpooler/providers.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+%w( base vsphere ).each do |lib|
+  begin
+    require "vmpooler/providers/#{lib}"
+  rescue LoadError
+    require File.expand_path(File.join(File.dirname(__FILE__), 'providers', lib))
+  end
+end
diff --git a/lib/vmpooler/providers/base.rb b/lib/vmpooler/providers/base.rb
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..4e7877b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/vmpooler/providers/base.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,107 @@
+module Vmpooler
+  class PoolManager
+    class Provider
+      class Base
+        # These defs must be overidden in child classes
+
+        def initialize(options)
+          @provider_options = options
+        end
+
+        # returns
+        #   [String] Name of the provider service
+        def name
+          'base'
+        end
+
+        # inputs
+        #  pool : hashtable from config file
+        # returns
+        #   hashtable
+        #     name : name of the device   <---- TODO is this all?
+        def vms_in_pool(pool)
+          fail "#{self.class.name} does not implement vms_in_pool"
+        end
+
+        # inputs
+        #   vm_name: string
+        # returns
+        #    [String] hostname   = Name of the host computer running the vm.  If this is not a Virtual Machine, it returns the vm_name
+        def get_vm_host(vm_name)
+          fail "#{self.class.name} does not implement get_vm_host"
+        end
+
+        # inputs
+        #   vm_name: string
+        # returns
+        #    [String] hostname   = Name of the most appropriate host computer to run this VM.  Useful for load balancing VMs in a cluster
+        #                          If this is not a Virtual Machine, it returns the vm_name
+        def find_least_used_compatible_host(vm_name)
+          fail "#{self.class.name} does not implement find_least_used_compatible_host"
+        end
+
+        # inputs
+        #   vm_name: string
+        #   dest_host_name: string (Name of the host to migrate `vm_name` to)
+        # returns
+        #    [Boolean] Returns true on success or false on failure
+        def migrate_vm_to_host(vm_name, dest_host_name)
+          fail "#{self.class.name} does not implement migrate_vm_to_host"
+        end
+
+        # inputs
+        #   vm_name: string
+        # returns
+        #   nil if it doesn't exist
+        #   Hastable of the VM
+        #    [String] name       = Name of the VM
+        #    [String] hostname   = Name reported by Vmware tools (host.summary.guest.hostName)
+        #    [String] template   = This is the name of template exposed by the API.  It must _match_ the poolname
+        #    [String] poolname   = Name of the pool the VM is located
+        #    [Time]   boottime   = Time when the VM was created/booted
+        #    [String] powerstate = Current power state of a VM.  Valid values (as per vCenter API)
+        #                            - 'PoweredOn','PoweredOff'
+        def get_vm(vm_name)
+          fail "#{self.class.name} does not implement get_vm"
+        end
+
+        # inputs
+        #   pool : hashtable from config file
+        #   new_vmname : string      Name the new VM should use
+        # returns
+        #   Hashtable of the VM as per get_vm
+        def create_vm(pool,new_vmname)
+          fail "#{self.class.name} does not implement create_vm"
+        end
+
+        # inputs
+        #   vm_name: string
+        #   pool: string
+        # returns
+        #   boolean : true if success, false on error
+        def destroy_vm(vm_name,pool)
+          fail "#{self.class.name} does not implement destroy_vm"
+        end
+
+        # inputs
+        #    vm  : string
+        #    pool: string
+        # timeout: int (Seconds)
+        # returns
+        #   result: boolean
+        def is_vm_ready?(vm,pool,timeout)
+          fail "#{self.class.name} does not implement is_vm_ready?"
+        end
+
+        # inputs
+        #    vm : string
+        # returns
+        #   result: boolean
+        def vm_exists?(vm)
+          !get_vm(vm).nil?
+        end
+
+      end
+    end
+  end
+end
diff --git a/spec/unit/providers/base_spec.rb b/spec/unit/providers/base_spec.rb
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..24f2b7c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/spec/unit/providers/base_spec.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,92 @@
+require 'spec_helper'
+
+# This spec does not really exercise code paths but is merely used
+# to enforce that certain methods are defined in the base classes
+
+describe 'Vmpooler::PoolManager::Provider::Base' do
+  let(:config) { {} }
+  let(:fake_vm) {
+    fake_vm = {}
+    fake_vm['name'] = 'vm1'
+    fake_vm['hostname'] = 'vm1'
+    fake_vm['template'] = 'pool1'
+    fake_vm['boottime'] = Time.now
+    fake_vm['powerstate'] = 'PoweredOn'
+
+    fake_vm
+  }
+
+  subject { Vmpooler::PoolManager::Provider::Base.new(config) }
+
+  describe '#name' do
+    it 'should be base' do
+      expect(subject.name).to eq('base')
+    end
+  end
+
+  describe '#vms_in_pool' do
+    it 'should raise error' do
+      expect{subject.vms_in_pool('pool')}.to raise_error(/does not implement vms_in_pool/)
+    end
+  end
+
+  describe '#get_vm_host' do
+    it 'should raise error' do
+      expect{subject.get_vm_host('vm')}.to raise_error(/does not implement get_vm_host/)
+    end
+  end
+
+  describe '#find_least_used_compatible_host' do
+    it 'should raise error' do
+      expect{subject.find_least_used_compatible_host('vm')}.to raise_error(/does not implement find_least_used_compatible_host/)
+    end
+  end
+
+  describe '#migrate_vm_to_host' do
+    it 'should raise error' do
+      expect{subject.migrate_vm_to_host('vm','host')}.to raise_error(/does not implement migrate_vm_to_host/)
+    end
+  end
+
+  describe '#get_vm' do
+    it 'should raise error' do
+      expect{subject.get_vm('vm')}.to raise_error(/does not implement get_vm/)
+    end
+  end
+
+  describe '#create_vm' do
+    it 'should raise error' do
+      expect{subject.create_vm('pool','newname')}.to raise_error(/does not implement create_vm/)
+    end
+  end
+
+  describe '#destroy_vm' do
+    it 'should raise error' do
+      expect{subject.destroy_vm('vm','pool')}.to raise_error(/does not implement destroy_vm/)
+    end
+  end
+
+  describe '#is_vm_ready?' do
+    it 'should raise error' do
+      expect{subject.is_vm_ready?('vm','pool','timeout')}.to raise_error(/does not implement is_vm_ready?/)
+    end
+  end
+
+  describe '#vm_exists?' do
+    it 'should raise error' do
+      expect{subject.vm_exists?('vm')}.to raise_error(/does not implement/)
+    end
+
+    it 'should return true when get_vm returns an object' do
+      allow(subject).to receive(:get_vm).with('vm').and_return(fake_vm)
+
+      expect(subject.vm_exists?('vm')).to eq(true)
+    end
+
+    it 'should return false when get_vm returns nil' do
+      allow(subject).to receive(:get_vm).with('vm').and_return(nil)
+
+      expect(subject.vm_exists?('vm')).to eq(false)
+    end
+  end
+end