AWS inks ‘whole-of-government’ deal for coordinated procurement

AWS has signed a whole-of-government agreement that enables all government agencies and departments across Australia to access AWS cloud services through what it said is a simplified procurement model.

In particular, the centralised agreement enables Australian federal, state and territory agencies and departments – as well as public universities and government-controlled corporations – to procure AWS cloud services seamlessly at scale to accelerate innovation and digital transformation.

The new method of procurement addresses some of the main barriers of adopting and expanding the use of cloud services, by modernising the way government purchases cloud services and facilitates training, according to AWS.

The news comes in the wake of findings from a recent Deloitte Access Economics research report, ‘Harnessing Cloud Opportunities in the Government Sector Report.’ which revealed Australia is one of the leading nations in government adoption of cloud.

The report found 94 per cent of the government sector leaders surveyed agreed that procurement processes should be modernised, and that governments should invest in workforce upskilling to be better prepared for cloud migration.

AWS said the new agreement provides agencies with a consistent approach to access and use all the AWS services in any of AWS’s 66 Availability Zones (AZs) spanning 21 regions around the world, without having to negotiate separate contract terms.

Specifically, agencies can use AWS services and features in a self-service, low-administration way. The smallest and largest agencies alike will be able to access the same benefits, and leverage AWS’s security capabilities and highly fault-tolerant infrastructure, AWS said.

Combined with the Protected certification awarded by the Australian Cyber Security Centre (ACSC) in January 2019, this agreement helps government agencies to migrate highly sensitive workloads and applications to the AWS Asia Pacific (Sydney) Region, AWS said.

“This agreement makes it easier for Australian government agencies to procure AWS services and speed time to value,” said AWS Asia Pacific regional managing director, worldwide public sector, Peter Moore, in a statement.

The procurement agreement “simplifies and streamlines government technology procurement by providing government agencies with rapid access to the full portfolio of AWS services in any AWS region at pre-agreed upon terms. This paves the way for greater innovation by enabling agencies to build and deploy digital services to serve Australians more effectively, transform legacy operations, and accelerate scientific breakthroughs,” Moore said.

“By eliminating barriers that have traditionally bogged down government technology procurement, the whole-of-government agreement enables agencies to invest more time and resources on their core missions, rather than on negotiating contracts,” he said.

According to AWS, the traditional procurement model typically uses a fixed price list that often takes weeks, as well as multiple approvals and administrative steps, to add new technology services to the price list.

Instead, it “removes this administrative overhead, smooths the procurement process for agencies, and provides instantaneous access to the breadth and depth of AWS services on a pay-as-you-use model under an agreed set of terms and conditions.” AWS said.

Public sector organisations that have already adopted AWS cloud services in Australia include: IP Australia, the Australian Taxation Office, the Australian Bureau of Statistics, Landgate, Emergency Services Victoria, Australian Museum, The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), La Trobe University, Monash University, and RMIT Online.