Description and Value Proposition

The cloud service catalogue brings together eight suppliers and twelve cloud services and forms the framework for the next phase of clouds services for the R&E community.
All cloud providers are invited to include their cloud services in the catalogue, in order to present these to the research and education community. The basis for this online directory is a coordinated list of pan-European core requirements that cloud service providers are expected to meet.
The catalogue, with its structured listing of cloud providers’ answers to the cloud requirements, offers to the research and education community clarity about providers’ capabilities, which helps when procuring cloud services (subject always to their domestic procurement legislation and applicable EU threshold values).
This catalogue demonstrates how each of these suppliers ensures their services meet the needs of European research and education including data security and privacy and integration with eduGAIN enabled AAI services and rates them against 28 key criteria.

Technical Description

The catalogue will be delivered in a phased approach:

Phase 0: access to a list of providers GÉANT is currently engaging with

Phase 1: list of services available as a result of procurement/tendered agreement

Phase 2: an actual marketplace

Service Description

At the moment phase 0 is concluded and phase 1 is starting.

There is no formal contractual agreement yet with the service providers in the catalogue. At the end of phase 1, a series of tendered procurements will enable the cloud catalogue service to collate SLAs and agreements for all the services that will be then part of the marketplace.

Offering

The Cloud Services Catalogue will provide a marketplace to access cloud services from selected providers at competitive prices or conditions.
The delivery of the catalogue will be organised in phases: firstly offering a service provider directory, then organising formal agreements via tendered procurements and finally creating a marketplace.
At the moment, the first phase is completed with a directory listing all registered GÉANT Cloud Service Providers. The directory is available here:
https://catalogue.clouds.geant.net

Reason to Act

As a pan-European research and education network, GÉANT is the gateway for cloud providers to deliver their services to 10,000 institutions, supporting 50 million users and researchers in more than 40 countries.
The main principle behind buiding a cloud service catalogue is then to offer a structured listing of cloud providers’ answers to the European Research and Education community requirements, helping procuring cloud services (subject always to their domestic procurement legislation and applicable EU threshold values).

Customer Experience

• Phase 0: access to a list of providers GÉANT is currently engaging with

• Phase 1: list of services available as a result of procurement/tendered agreement

• Phase 2: an actual marketplace

Benefits

Simpler fruition and access to cloud services through a single point/aggregation portal
More effective way to market cloud services provided by NRENs within the GEANT service area

Costs
TbD after the CBA

Time

While phase 2 will be completed, the customer can get immediate access to the services they need (disk space, VM, CPU, backservices)

Alternatives

A set of unilateral agreements with all the providers

Advantages

Centralised service management, simpler account management, simpler and faster access to services, possibility of buying and selling services delivered by NRENs through professional product management consultancy from GÉANT

Engagement

Cloud providers have been invited to include their cloud services in the catalogue, in order to present these to the research and education community. The basis for this online directory is a coordinated list of pan-European core requirements that cloud service providers are expected to meet.

KPIs

Roadmap