The Crown Commercial Service (CCS) has launched a procurement framework for cloud hosting solutions.
Named Cloud Compute, it covers infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS) and platform-as-a-service (PaaS) offerings and is available to public and third sector organisations that want to purchase high volume solutions.
CCS said it enables customers to rapidly scale up or down their usage as and when required, with longer call-off options than other cloud agreements and more flexibility over taking on new service offerings during the contract term.
The framework has been launched o complement G-Cloud, which has shorter call-off terms and a wider pool of suppliers able to offer more diverse services.
It is focused on flexible (‘hyperscale’) compute environments, used, for example, for the development of new software applications or where large and complex datasets need to be modelled.
The suppliers on the framework are Amazon Web Services, Fordway Solutions, Frontier Technology, Google Ireland, IBM UK, Microsoft, Oracle Corporation, UKCloud and UKFast.net.
As part of the tender process, bidders were asked to provide evidence of how they would support customers to achieve social value, notably in sustainability and reducing economic inequality.
The framework will run for four years with call-off terms up to three years and two possible extensions of up to 12 months each.
Image from iStock
