SA agencies sign up to iiNet private cloud

iiNet has secured a multi-year infrastructure-as-a-service deal with the South Australian government that will see agencies source on-demand computing out of iiNet’s Adelaide-based data centres.

The internet service provider - through its Internode subsidiary - will deliver its ‘gCloud’ branded service to the Department of Premier and Cabinet, the Department of Planning Transport and Infrastructure, and the Department of Communities and Social Inclusion under the new deal, with opportunities to expand the deal to other state entities in the future.

The consumption-based pricing model means no upfront value has been attached to the deal at this stage.

Internode outbid fellow members of the SA whole-of-government hosting panel to secure the work. The panel, which is estimated to channel $65 million to its six suppliers over its 13 year term, also includes Internode sister company Adam Internet, CSC, HP, Hostworks and NEC.

The deal will also include backup-as-a-service.

Despite its conservative stance towards offshore hosted services, the SA government is using the deal as an opportunity to talk up its cloud credentials.

“This solution improves agility for state government agencies with no upfront costs and provides the ability to spin up or shut down servers as required in minutes instead of months. Consumption-based pricing requires no minimum spend,” SA’s Public Sector Minister Susan Close said in a statement.

The private cloud will consume hardware reserved for the state government and will hook into the public service’s own private Adelaide data network.