Commercial in Confidence
Service Description – Compute as a Service (Production)
Product Overview
Compute as a Service from Skyscape enables organisations to build and control secure virtual servers in
minutes, in a responsive and autonomous manner. Fully configurable, scalable and resilient, the platform
allows both technical and non-technical people to quickly build environments or enable complex tiered
solutions.
Product Features
Compute as a Service provides a genuinely secure and dependable compute platform which offers the
following benefits:
 Expedites your project – no need to wait for infrastructure and deployment teams – new virtual servers
are provisioned immediately via an easy-to-use self-service portal.
 Reduces Total Cost of Ownership – not only does this service allow you to replace CAPEX spend with
OPEX but you also pay only for what you use.
 Assured Security – the platform is hosted in highly resilient Tier3, UK sovereign data centres and
benefits from QinetiQ’s Protective Monitoring solution.
 Green – the Skyscape service is based in UK data centres which offer market leading efficiency around
power and cooling. A Skyscape solution will generate less Carbon than many other solutions.
Compute as a Service from Skyscape offers an assured service including full monitoring and management of
the platform using best practice IT Service Management ITIL methodologies, with a fixed SLA.
The service is billed on the basis of the resources used or reserved during a period of time (1 hour minimum)
based on metrics including virtual server size (memory, processors, storage), licenses and bandwidth. Other
chargeable options include back up and DR.
Example Use Cases
 Organisations requiring short term hosted test and development environments, needing responsive
deployments with scalable builds, release templates, catalogues and cloning of environments.
 Organisations looking to reduce costs on server running expenses for intranet sites, knowledge base
portals etc. that are only required to be available during normal business hours.
 Organisations requiring full control over their hosted environment whilst gaining on demand
responsiveness, flexibility and scalability.
 Individual departments who may have hosted applications that onlyneed to be available for a small
period of time during a month.
 Organisations wanting to consume and pay for their infrastructure in an OPEX model.
 Organisations wanting greater efficiency and the ability to reduce their carbon impact.
Technical Features
“Compute as a Service” offers organisations full management of their environment through a secure web
portal which will enable users to complete the following;
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Build virtual machines either from pre-defined templates or by specifying the exact requirements
from memory (256MB to 90GB), processors (1vCPU to 8) and storage (up to 1 TB as a default) and
installing a wide range of operating systems – in minutes.
Stop, start, clone and delete virtual machines.
Reconfigure virtual hardware “on the fly” – changing memory, processors and storage as and when
needed.
Manage and define all firewall security rules and/or policies.
Set and control access, user profiles and capabilities.
Upload virtual server images.
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
Upload own operating systems, applications and data, or alternatively select from Skyscape’s
catalogue of template based standard OS configurations.
Users can select from the predefined virtual machines below:
Memory
CPU
Storage
Small Virtual Server
2 GB memory
1 vCPU (1GHz)
150 GB storage
Medium Virtual Server
8 GB memory
4 vCPU (4GHz)
150 GB storage
Large Virtual Server
16 GB memory
8 vCPU (8GHz)
200 GB storage
Other important information:

VPN functionality is available from within the solution.
 Ability to connect using a range of protocols (RDP, SSH etc) directly to the virtual machine.
 Each VM is provided with 2 external public IP addresses by default, these are not transferable upon
termination.
 By default, memory and processors are guaranteed at 100%, however, organisationscan select to
have contended resources if building their own virtual servers.
 Auto-scaling and the ability to burst – utilising unused resources, are configurable options.
 Each organisationcan create their own catalogs of software and operating systems, providing gold
images for other users to build and replicate from.
 Storage is persistent – no data will be lost when you stop the virtual server.
 Virtual Servers are persistent – they are not lost when the virtual server is stopped.
 Data transfer between virtual servers within a organisationsenvironment is free.
Software
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The virtual server templates offer the organisationa default configuration operating system, allowing
them to configure it how they require and also includes a VM tool which monitors the health of the
virtual server.
If selected as an option, the template may also include the backup software agents.
Virtual server templates do not have additional, third party applications such as Java or Adobe for
example, it remains the organisationsresponsibility to manage, license and install these.
Anti-virus is not available and is managed, licensed and installed by the organisation.
Backup
Organisationscan purchase capacity on the Skyscape Storage as a Service platform on which they
can keep secondary copies of data. Such data can be replicated for even higher data durability.
Based on the backup policy, restoration can either be completed by the organisationor they can
request data to be restored.
Reports
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Organisationshave access to online reports including useful statistics such as number of virtual
servers, performance, size, users and real time costs and usage. For virtual server performance,
this requires VM tools to be installed on the operating system.
Licensing
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Licenses for Microsoft Windows operating systems are provided by Skyscape by default.
Licenses for Red Hat Enterprise Linux Operating Systems can be provided by either party.
Licensing for all other software is the responsibility of each Consumer.
Billing
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Billing is per hour, each partial hour consumed will be billed as a full hour.
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Pricing is per virtual server hour consumed for each virtual server, from the time a virtual server is
launched until it is stopped or terminated.
Whilst a virtual server is stopped, charges may still be applied to the persistent storage element.
If reconfiguring or resizing a virtual server outside the pre-defined templates, pricing is calculated on
a number of individual components including memory, processors, storage and licenses reserved or
consumed.
Data transfer is billed per GB out of the platform – transfer in is free.
Monitoring and Support / Assistance.
The availability of the “Compute as a Service” platform and each virtual server will be monitored by
Skyscape to ensure the Service Level Agreements are met.
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Skyscape will not monitor the operating system and applications inside of the virtual servers.
An overview of the G-Cloud Service (functional, non-functional)
An organisation can easily create and configure virtual machines (with associated network, storage and
application tiering) to with high Service Level Agreements (SLA) that support production workloads.
Information assurance – Impact Level (IL) at which the G-Cloud Service is accredited to hold and
process information
Suitable for IL0, IL1, IL2 and IL3 data.
All data centres (locales) are highly resilient Tier3, UK sovereign with List-X status.
Connectivity Available
Connectivity via the internet or a government secure network (GSI, PNN, N3, etc.) is standard.
Details of the level of backup/restore and disaster recovery that will be provided
As standard, localised failures are tolerated within the infrastructure by eliminating all single points of failure
(including server failure or disk failure). Further, organisations have the option to take “snapshots” and
“clones” of virtual servers which can provide additional protection.
Optionally, Skyscape can replicate the virtual servers and associated data to a second UK locale which
provides a robust solution for more substantial failure of the primary environment.
Further, Skyscape are able to backup either the entire virtual server, or selected data to an independent
backup solution based on EMC Avamar. This can allow organisations to recover their servers and/or data
from a backup.
On-boarding and Off-boarding processes/scope etc.
Once the organisations account has been created by Skyscape, the Administrator receives a URL,
username and password. The Administrator is then able to allocate roles and privileges for users within their
business. End users can then simply log on and begin using the service.
Pricing (including unit prices, volume discounts (if any), data extraction etc.)
Tiny VM
Standard
IL0
£0.06
Il2
£0.07
IL3
Not available
Bronze
Silver
£0.18
£0.22
£0.19
£0.25
£0.21
£0.32
Small VM
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Gold
£0.30
£0.35
£0.48
Bronze
Silver
Gold
£0.29
£0.35
£0.46
£0.31
£0.39
£0.54
£0.35
£0.51
£0.75
Medium VM
Large VM
Bronze
£0.59
£0.62
Silver
£0.72
£0.80
Gold
£0.94
£1.11
The pricing in the above table is based on £ per hour (part hour charged as a whole hour).
£0.71
£1.04
£1.54
Additional data transfer (i.e. network traffic) charge of £0.13 per GB per month.
Additional storage charge of £0.48 per GB per month.
Product / Service Options
Standard
Bronze
Silver
Gold
Availability Single
99.95%
99.95%
N/A
N/A
Availability across Multiple Zones
N/A
N/A
99.98%
99.990%
Performance of VM
Uncontended
Uncontended
Uncontended
Uncontended
Storage – Included Local Instance
Storage (GB/VM) instance)
150
150
150
200
Storage – Option of Snapshoting
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Automated Backup toolsets
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
DR Backup & Restore Features
No
No
Yes
Yes
Static IP Addresses
1
1
2
2
Single UK Sovereign DC
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Dual UK Sovereign DC
No
No
Yes
Yes
Skyscape Analytics
None
None
Yes
Yes
QinetiQ Proactive Monitoring
None
Max 50
under
management
None
Max 50
under
management
Basic
Advanced
Unlimited
Unlimited
Growth Limits
Service Management Details
A comprehensive secure online Portal will provide the most common Service Management functionality and
address most requirements.
An experienced, qualified ITIL Service Delivery Manager will be assigned to each client, and will be
responsible for the on-going client relationship. They will also provide assistance with reporting, incident
escalation and continual service improvement, at all times following Skyscape’s ITIL-based process
framework.
Service constraints (e.g. maintenance windows, level of customisation permitted, schedule for
deprecation of functionality/features etc.)
No service constraints exist, beyond the rich functionality that exists within the Compute as a Service Cloud
Platform by Skyscape. Skyscape will adhere to the following in terms of maintenance windows;
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“Planned Maintenance” means any pre-planned maintenance of any infrastructure relating to the Services.
Skyscape shall provide the Client with at least twenty four (24) hours’ advance notice of any such planned
maintenance:
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Planned maintenance of Skyscape’s infrastructure relating to the Services shall happen between
the hours of 00:00and 06:00 (UK local time) Monday to Sunday and/or between the hours of 08:00
and 12:00 (UK local time) on a Saturday and/or Sunday;
Planned Maintenance shall be excluded from any availability calculation in regard to Service Credits
but shall be included in the monthly service reporting;
“Emergency Maintenance” means any emergency maintenance of any of the infrastructure relating to the
Services. Whenever possible, Skyscape shall provide the Client with at least six (6) hours’ advance notice:
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Whenever possible Emergency Maintenance of Skyscape’s infrastructure will happen between the
hours of 00:00and 06:00 (UK local time) Monday to Sunday and/or between the hours of 08:00 and
12:00 (UK local time)on Saturday and/or Sunday unless there is an identified and demonstrable
immediate risk to a Clients environment;
Emergency Maintenance shall be excluded from any availability calculation in regard to service credits but
shall be included in the monthly service reporting.
Service Levels (e.g. performance, availability, support hours, severity definitions etc.)
Incident Response
Initial response and update
frequency
Standard
Bronze
Silver
Gold
Auto email
response
Auto email
response with
access to online
portal
Bespoke email
Dedicated
customer
support
adviser
Within two hours
and every 8
hours thereafter
Within an hour
and every 4
hours
thereafter
Within 15
minutes and
every 2 hours
thereafter
24 hours
Update methods
Portal
Auto email
Bespoke email
Incident review
None
FAQs via online
portal
Incident report
Phone –
dedicated
customer
support
advisor
Incident report
Availability
99.95%
99.95%
99.98%
99.99%
Service Credits
None
5% of monthly
fee
10% of
monthly fee
15% of
monthly fee
Financial recompense model for not meeting service levels
If the service level falls below the stated availability percentage (excluding Planned and Emergency
maintenance periods), the Client will be eligible for Service Credits. Service Credits will be calculated as a
percentage of the fees for the monthly billing period during which the failure occurred (to be applied at the
end of the billing cycle).
Training
A range of user and administrators manuals, online tutorials and FAQs are available online.
Ordering and invoicing process
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Clients may view their current usage and charges online in real time via the portal.
Billing for the service can either be monthly or quarterly.
Payment can be via the following methods: Direct Debit, Debit / credit card or purchase order.
Service lead time
New Clients (organisations) will typically be deployed within one day from order. Shorter deployment times
may be available and prioritised upon request.
Existing organisations have instant access to additional resources with no notice period required.
Termination termsBy consumers (i.e. consumption)By the Supplier (removal of the G-Cloud Service)
At the point of termination, all Consumer data, accounts and access will be permanently deleted, and will not
be able to be subsequently recovered or restored.
Termination costs
There are no termination costs for this Service.
Skyscape will not make an additional charge for transferring data out of the service.
Data restoration / service migration
For service migration, Skyscape allows existing virtual machine images built using VMware to be migrated to
the platform seamlessly.
Consumer responsibilities
The control and management of access and responsibilities for end users.
Clients must be aware of the variable nature of the billing based on usage.
The consumer is also responsible for ensuring only appropriate data (e.g. IL0-IL2 or IL3) is stored and
processed by applications on this environment.
Technical requirements (service dependencies and detailed technical interfaces, e.g. client side
requirements, bandwidth/latency requirements etc.)
Individual users will require internet access (IL0-IL2) or connectivity via a government secure network (IL3)
to the Skyscape Cloud Platforms.
Details of any trial service available
A 30 day free trial of 5 Small VMs.
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