Published on the 04/06/2014 | Written by Beverley Head
A further and final 24 suppliers have this week been added to the Federal Government’s pre-approved cloud services list, which can be used for data centre services for contracts up to $80,000…
A total of 104 organisations are currently listed as pre-approved suppliers of data-centre-as-a-service (DCaaS) offerings for Federal Government contracts of up to $80,000. According to the government this makes available to agencies a catalogue of around 1500 different cloud services.
In this latest and final tranche of suppliers added to the list are a series of smaller companies – but also some big names such as NEXTDC, Melbourne IT, AC3 and Optus.
The appetite for cloud in both Federal and State Governments is on the increase. The Federal Department of Finance has just ended a period of industry consultation and is now deliberating a new cloud procurement model which is intended to be released by October, just as the DCaaS multi-use list reaches its use-by date.
Earlier this year the National Commission of Audit recommended the Federal Government move to a “cloud-first” approach for low risk computing systems, noting that there were savings of 20-30 percent to be had from this approach.
The Department of Finance has indicated that it is exploring the option of creating a whole-of-Government cloud panel of suppliers, and intends to include all sizes of business on that list.
However for companies wanting to be considered for the new cloud computing contract, there is a series of hoops to jump through.
In a blog post, John Sheridan, the Australian Government’s chief technology officer notes that any cloud provider that wants to be considered needs to demonstrate its ability to adhere to the Government’s Protective Security Policy Framework and the Information Security Manual.
It must also follow the Australian Signals Directorate’s guidance on when cloud computing should be used. And any cloud computing deployment needs to comply with the Attorney General’s Australian Government Policy and Risk Management Guidelines for storage and processing of Australian Government information.
As part of that policy any “sensitive” data can only be stored in an offshore cloud with the express approval of the minister responsible for that data and the Attorney General.
Australia’s states and territories have also made significant cloud headway.
Since August 2013 NSW agencies have been obliged to evaluate cloud-based services; Victoria’s recently refreshed ICT plan calls for public cloud services to be evaluated for the delivery of any new or updated computer systems; and, in late May, Queensland adopted a “cloud-first” approach to computing
