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Data Centre as a
Service Project
Sourcing Approach
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Table of Contents
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Service Catalogue .................................................................................................................................... 3
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Timeframes ............................................................................................................................................. 5
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Types of Services available on the MUL.................................................................................................. 5
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Establishing the MUL .............................................................................................................................. 5
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MUL features .......................................................................................................................................... 6
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MUL Questions........................................................................................................................................ 7
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Agency Questions ................................................................................................................................... 9
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Work Order Questions .......................................................................................................................... 10
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Service Questions.................................................................................................................................. 10
Data Centre as a Service (DCaaS) Project ............................................................................................... 3
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Data Centre as a Service (DCaaS) Project
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Objectives
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1. The objective of the DCaaS project is to establish a method of supplying ICT services to the
smaller 50 per cent of Financial Management and Accountability Act 1997 (FMA) agencies.
The services may also interest larger agencies, Australian state and territory governments
and other Commonwealth bodies. Whilst the services available may be cloud computing
services, using a cloud model is not essential. This project is intended to contribute to the
Australian Government Data Centre Strategy 2010-25 (the Strategy)’s outcome of avoiding
$1 billion in costs. DCaaS will enable streamlined procurement of ICT services, reducing
agency procurement overheads and reducing the costs of the procured services.
Exclusions
2. Goods or services already subject to mandatory coordinated procurement arrangements are
excluded from this approach.
Outline
3. DCaaS will establish a low value and low risk process for agencies to use when acquiring ICT
services. Work orders will be for ICT services up to a maximum value of $80,000 (GST
inclusive) and a maximum term of 12 months. The project team has ascertained that the
objectives of the project can best be achieved by using a Multi Use List (MUL) arrangement.
The difference between a MUL and panel arrangement is described on the Buying for
Australian Government website.1
4. The MUL will be operational for 24 months and managed by the Australian Government
Information Management Office (AGIMO) Group of the Department of Finance and
Deregulation. The MUL will be reviewed 12 months after its implementation. This review
may recommend a new approach that allows higher value and longer term contracts and/or
a panel approach to the procurement of similar services.
5. To be included on the MUL, suppliers will be required to sign a Deed setting out the
overarching terms and conditions. Agencies and suppliers will enter into a work order for
the procurement of ICT services.
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Service Catalogue
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What is the service catalogue
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6. The service catalogue is a portal that allows users to easily browse and search the list of
services available under the MUL. It will be available via the ICT procurement page of the
Department of Finance and Deregulation website
How will the data be categorised and structured?
7. The services available will be catalogued. This is an example of the fields in the catalogue:
1 http://www.finance.gov.au/procurement/procurement-policy-and-guidance/buying/procurementpractice/panel-and-mul/principles.html
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Category
Sample Values
Service
PaaS, SaaS or IaaS
Defined Service
Email, Test/Dev, Web Hosting, Storage, DR, Virtual Machines, Email,
Data Analysis and CRM.
Number of users
0-25, 25-100, 100-1000 or 1000-10000
Security Level
Public, Unclassified, Confidential or Protected.
Origin of Service
Name of city and country from which the service is provided.
Minimum Terms
1, 3 or 6 months.
Payment Model
Per seat, Per minute, Per MB or Per GB. (Other payment models
maybe developed.)
What searching will be supported?
8. Agency users will be able to use filter search functions to narrow down their search for
appropriate services. Suppliers will be encouraged to include keyword descriptions in their
service descriptions. Agencies will then be able to search for keywords in order to identify
prospective services.
Who is responsible for the data?
9. A supplier who has registered for the MUL is responsible for the accuracy of the information
supplied in the service catalogue.
How often can it be changed?
10. Services from existing MUL members can be added to the MUL at any time during the
operation of the MUL. As a guide, 14 working days should be allowed from application to
join the MUL to be added to the service catalogue.
Who can view the service catalogue?
11. The service catalogue will be available to the public; all information on the service catalogue
will be unclassified.
What history will be kept, will it be visible, if so, to whom?
12. History of services which have been removed from the service catalogue will be kept off-line
by the MUL management team.
Will the service catalogue be reviewed?
13. The service catalogue will be reviewed before the end of the 12 months and may be
extended, withdrawn or re-designed.
Who can input and access feedback?
14. An agency user who has signed a work order with a supplier and utilised the service will be
asked to provide feedback on the service. The feedback will be socialised with the supplier
and two weeks allowed for remediation if the supplier disagrees with the feedback. Once
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the two parties agree on the changes, it will be included among the service description in
the service catalogue.
Timeframes
15. A request for Applications for Inclusion (AFI) on the MUL will be released on AusTender by
the end of June 2012. AFIs may be submitted at any time during the life of the MUL.
However, assessments will be undertaken quarterly and AFIS received after a quarterly cut
off date will be assessed during the next quarterly round. Companies that submitted AFIs in
the first round and were accepted onto the MUL will be announced in October 2012.
AFI cut off dates
30 August 2012
30 November 2012
31 February 2013
30 May 2013
30 August 2013
30 November 2013
31 February 2014
30 May 2014
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MUL updated
31 October 2012
31 January 2013
30 April 2013
31 July 2013
31 October 2013
31 January 2014
30 April 2014
31 July 2014
16. The MUL will enable a simple purchasing process using the service catalogue. The MUL will
provide a guidance document to assist agencies in their selection and procurement of
services. Agencies will be responsible for conducting a procurement process, including
demonstrating value for money, and, subject to their Chief Executive Instructions, may be
required to obtain three quotes.
Types of Services available on the MUL
17. The categories of services will be available through the MUL:
a. Software as a Service – for example: email and web hosting;
b. Platform as a Service – for example: environments in which applications can be
developed and/or executed; and
c. Infrastructure as a Service – for example: disaster recovery and storage.
18. The services may or may not conform to the National Institute of Standards and Technology
(NIST)2 definitions of cloud computing. This will permit suppliers to offer services that are
not shared and/or are located in government data centres.
Establishing the MUL
19. The following will be required to establish the MUL:
d. A Data Centre as a Service Head Agreement (DCaaS Deed) and Sourcing Approach
will be drafted and posted on the AGIMO blog by end of March 2012.
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This will allow industry and agencies to comment on both the Sourcing
Approach and Deed.
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http://csrc.nist.gov/publications/nistpubs/800-145/SP800-145.pdf
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e. Service characteristics will be drafted and posted on the AGIMO blog by the end of
April 2012.
i.
This will allow industry and agencies to comment on the service
characteristics.
f. The Deed and service catalogue will be finalised and the AFI released on AusTender
by 30 June 2012.
g. To be considered for inclusion on the MUL, applicants must meet the following
threshold conditions for participation:
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Provide service description/s and characteristics (which may include pricing)
to be included in a service catalogue;
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Provide referees from customers, which includes contact name, position,
phone, email, and ABN; and
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Provide paperwork that will enable a company search (ABN, company
name, company address, names of directors);
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Provide two duly completed and executed DCaaS Deed s (in the form set out
in the AFI, Appendix XX), including correctly executed Declarations, such as:
 Small to Medium Enterprise - Australian Industry Participation Plan
 Illegal Workers
 Compliance with Fair Work Principles
 Compliance with Equal Opportunity for Women in the Workplace Act
1999 (Cth)
 Conflict of Interest
 Ethical Dealing
 Anti-collusion Requirements
 Occupational, Health and Safety
h. To be considered for inclusion on the MUL, applicants must meet the following
qualitative conditions for participation
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Demonstrated capacity to provide quality services to the Commonwealth in
the nominated categories of DCaaS, including offers of value add services;
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Demonstrated [any other criteria??]
i. The assessment process for the MUL will include:
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ensuring mandatory requirements have been fulfilled;
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verifying company information;
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conducting reference checks; and
iv.
ensuring other required paperwork is completed.
MUL features
20. The MUL will ensure ongoing competitive tension and currency by:
a. Allowing the addition of new suppliers and services during the entire two year term;
b. Allowing removal of services if the termination clauses of the Deed are triggered;
c. Publication of pricing lists; and
d. Periodic adjustment of prices, with price increases or reductions to apply to new
work orders.
21. Agencies will be able to easily obtain feedback on quality of services:
a. Agencies that purchase via the MUL are required to provide feedback.
22. Agencies will be able to filter the service catalogue to only review services that meet their
requirements (if they are offered on the MUL).
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23. Agencies will be able to list ‘wanted’ services, allowing current MUL members to point the
agency to their service or to consider adding that service to their offering.
24. The work orders between agencies and suppliers, will:
a. have a value up to $80,000 (GST inclusive);
b. be limited to 12 months;
c. include service levels;
d. include pricing;
e. contain service descriptions; and
f. be reviewed by AGIMO prior to execution (AGIMO will maintain records of all work
orders).
The Role of AGIMO
25. AGIMO will establish and manage the MUL. The DCaaS project team has established a
Steering Group (comprising SES Band 1 representatives from agencies) and a Technical
Working Group to provide input and advice on the technical and other aspects of the
project. This includes advice on the contents of the sourcing approach, standard Deed and
business as usual (BAU) considerations. The project team has also contracted a probity
advisor to assure the integrity of the project.
26. AGIMO will:
a. manage the addition and removal of suppliers from the MUL;
b. update the service catalogue;
c. provide advice and assistance to agencies regarding the MUL; and
d. develop a buyers’ checklist as part of BAU activities that will outline the steps for
agencies to undertake prior to buying from the service catalogue.
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MUL Questions
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How many suppliers?
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27. The number of suppliers will not be limited.
How many services?
28. The number of services will not be limited.
What types of services?
29. Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS), Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) and Software-as-a-Service
(SaaS) terms will be used to define the service categories. The services themselves will be
defined by the supplier. Services can be Cloud or non-Cloud services.
How long will a supplier remain on the MUL?
30. A supplier will remain on the MUL until:
a. The supplier asks to be removed;
b. The supplier ceases to provide services according to the description in the service
catalogue;
c. The supplier fails to comply with the operational rules of the MUL and, at AGIMO’s
discretion, is removed from the MUL; Or
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d. The MUL reaches the end of its term and is closed.
What is the timing for suppliers to be listed on the MUL?
31. An AFI to join the MUL for DCaaS services will be released on AusTender by 30 June 2012.
The MUL will remain open for 24 months. Before the end of the 24 month period, a decision
will be made to either extend or terminate the MUL.
Will there be a service closure strategy for both Supplier and Agency?
32. The DCaaS Deed will include clauses for work order initiation, closure on completion and
termination that will contain provisions for managing the following issues:
a. Business processes involved in the service solutions must be able to be replicated
with alternative on-premise equipment;
b. Closure on completion or termination of a service should have a low impact on
users and productivity; and
c. Considerations for a hybrid cloud/on-premise solution must be allowed.
What are the rules regarding price changes?
33. Suppliers must provide in [Section XX of Part X] of the AFI:
a. Details of list rates (GST inclusive) that they propose for the provision of services;
b. Details of list rates (GST inclusive) for additional services; and
c. Details of any innovative pricing arrangements they may propose
34. Suppliers should note that list rates, additional service rates and innovative pricing
arrangements provided in their AFIs do not prevent agencies from negotiating their own
specific fee arrangements with the supplier. These arrangements may be at prices below
the list rates .
35. Prices will be provided by suppliers and will be listed on the service catalogue. A supplier
may decrease their prices, after providing their price schedule, but cannot increase their
prices during the term of the MUL. The MUL will rely on market forces to set prices for the
different services and a level of transparency to keep prices within market expectations. If
pricing is lowered by a supplier for a particular service, the new price will apply to all new
Work Orders.
How will AGIMO be funded to manage the MUL?
36. Suppliers applying for inclusion to the MUL will be required to pay a registration fee [amount
to be determined, likely to be no more than $100] that will be used by AGIMO to pay for the
financial viability check of the supplier.
37. The Data Centre Strategy Program is to be self-funded from 1 July 2013. From July 2013, the
DCaaS MUL will include a charge back mechanism to agencies to fund the management of
the MUL.
How can AGIMO track agency usage of the service catalogue and/or services?
38. AGIMO will maintain a register with contact details for each agency work order. MUL
members will be required to provide a report to AGIMO on a quarterly basis on the services
they have provided to agencies.
How will AGIMO know it has succeeded with its sourcing approach?
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39. AGIMO will measure the success of the MUL by conducting regular reviews. The initial
review will occur 6 months after the launch and then ongoing regular reviews throughout
the life of the MUL. The estimated cost avoidance for each work order that is signed under
the MUL will be reported against the total cost avoidance of $1 billion.
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Agency Questions
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Which Agencies can use the MUL?
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40. The MUL is available for all Commonwealth agencies to use, but is targeted at the smaller 50
per cent of agencies. It will also be available to Australian State and Territory governments.
Exemption rules
41. Use of the MUL is not mandatory, so agencies are not required to apply for exemptions from
using the MUL.
How does an agency access the service catalogue?
42. The service catalogue will be available on-line. Agencies will be able to access a search tool
to filter possible services or view the entire service catalogue. Once an agency has identified
the possible suppliers for each service required, the agency is required to complete an
appropriate evaluation process to show value for money in accordance with the
Commonwealth Procurement Rules (CPRs). Agencies will need to ensure they conduct
procurements in accordance with their agencies’ CEIs and relevant operational guidelines,
which in turn must be consistent with the CPRs. Agencies are to use the work order
provided with the Deed.
Is there a closure on completion and/or termination process?
43. Suppliers will be required to demonstrate their exit processes for the proposed services
upon termination or completion of each work order and agree this process with the agency
prior to commencing service delivery.
What kind of additional informationcould be included in a Work Order?
44. Work orders are the instrument for the agencies and the supplier to agree to any additional
contractual terms that may not be covered in the DCaaS Deed. These may include: a data
plan for an agency to specify how data is to be captured; how an agency can re-harvest that
data; and Service Level Agreements (SLAs).
What are the insurance requirements?
45. Suppliers will be required to provide Certificates of Currency in respect to public liability
insurance and professional indemnity insurance for an amount, determined by the agency,
per event per policy and workers compensation insurance as required by law (or equivalent
evidence) prior to the signing of any work order.
How must cost avoidance be reported?
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46. Agencies will be required to report their cost avoidance for each work order that is signed
under the MUL. [Work is continuing in this area.]
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How long can a work order be?
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47. Work orders will have a maximum length of 12 months.
How short can it be?
48. There will be no minimum length for a work order.
What are the renewal options?
49. Work order extensions will not be permitted under the standard Deed. If an agency wants
to continue with a particular service, they must show the service is still value for money and
sign a new work order. Agencies must follow their CEIs and the CPRs.
If a supplier changes prices what is the impact on existing work orders?
50. The pricing that is agreed in the work order at the time of signing will apply for the term of
the work order.
Impact on existing work orders with other suppliers – especially renewals
51. For an Agency to use an existing supplier, who is also a member of the MUL, they must sign
a new work order, based on a value for money decision.
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What approach to a service taxonomy should be adopted?
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52. [Work is continuing in this area and requires input from the ARC and TWG. The AGARM
includes taxonomies for business and services.] The service taxonomy will be used for
classifying the services put forward by vendors. The service taxonomy will be finalised prior
to approaching the market in June 2012 and may require input from industry.
What are the allowable services?
53. Services to be permitted under the MUL must fall under the broad categories of IaaS, PaaS
and SaaS. The MUL management team will determine if the services put forward by
suppliers meet these requirements. A variety of services will then be placed under each
broad service category.
What standards are relevant – mandatory/optional?
54. If services are offered as cloud services, they must conform to the NIST definition of cloud.
A decision on whether services need to comply with security or data standards is still to be
decided. DCaaS vendors should describe their approach to information security in terms of
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the guidance found in the Protective Security Policy Framework (PSPF) and the Information
Security Manual (ISM).
Who sets standards?
55. A guide to the minimum standard of service required to be accredited for the service
catalogue will be released in the expression of interest to join the MUL.
How are the services assessed/accredited, before and after t hey are put in the
service catalogue?
56. Suppliers will be asked to provide their ABN, service descriptions and referee contact details
for the proposed services. AGIMO will request a financial check by a financial services
consultant.
57. Agencies will be asked to provide feedback for inclusion in the service catalogue after
utilising the services. Suppliers, who receive negative reviews with evidence, may be
removed from the MUL.
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