Govt-wide cloud deal brokered with AWS

The federal government has brokered a $39 million whole-of-government deal with Amazon Web Services to improve agency access to secure cloud services.

The three-year volume sourcing agreement is aimed at cutting IT sourcing costs for AWS cloud services by leveraging demand across government.

It comes less than six months after the hyperscale cloud provider was certified to carry protected government data by the Australian Cyber Security Centre.

The mandatory agreement gives federal government agencies, regardless of size, a consistent way to buy AWS services.

It is also available to state and territory governments, as well as to universities and government-owned corporations, on a case-by-case basis, according to the Digital Transformation Agency.

AWS said the “simplified procurement model” would avoid the need for separate contract terms and multiple administrative steps, allowing agencies to use cloud services in “a self-service and low-administration way”.

AWS' APAC public sector managing director Peter Moore said this would give agencies “rapid access to the full portfolio of AWS services in any AWS region at pre-agreed upon terms”.

All new AWS contracts with Commonwealth agencies will be made under the agreement, while existing contracts will also transition. The first new contract under the agreement is valued at $39 million over three years.

The agreement also offers agencies enterprise support and professional services to provide guidance on difficult projects should they need it, as well as cloud skills training.

Newly appointed Minister for Government Services Stuart Robert said the deal would help agencies, particularly regular AWS users, to access secure cloud services at a reduced cost to the taxpayer.

“Government agencies regularly engage AWS services, each with separate contracts. The new arrangement represents an opportunity to provide cost reductions through efficiencies of scale,” he said.

Agencies like the Australian Taxation Office, the CSIRO and IP Australia, as well as universities Monash and RMIT have been using AWS cloud services for some time.

AWS will also host the online platform for the 2021 Census after Australian Bureau of Statistics selected big four consulting firm PwC for the build last month.

The new arrangement is the fifth to be signed by the government to date and follows last year’s $1 billion agreement with IBM.

Other strategic deals have also been signed with major vendors SAP, Concur and Microsoft, as part of the DTA’s co-ordinated procurement push.

iTnews understands the DTA is also continuing to work with Oracle to line up a government-wide arrangement.

“The DTA continues to expand whole-of-government volume sourcing agreements to ensure government agencies have ready access to the best pricing, terms and conditions,” Robert said.

“Over a number of years, aggregated procurement has allowed us to leverage the bulk-buying power of the government to negotiate consistent and improved terms and conditions.”