The data centre environment has changed in a number of ways since the original scoping study conducted by Finance in 2009: density has increased, power needs have changed and the impact of cloud computing and virtualisation on traditional data centre environments has been significant. So, it’s clear that Finance needs to look for ways to adapt to changes in technology, industry and agency business needs.
With that in mind, we’re seeking the views of industry and agencies to gauge how we might consider improving our data centre procurement model. We will engage with industry via this blog and with agencies via the Whole-of-government ICT Services Committee. In the future we may engage with industry via forums.
Our work on the Australian Government Data Centre Strategy 2010-2025 has shown that the existing sourcing arrangements represent value for money. However, given the changes in technology and the evolving moves to cloud-type environments, it is timely that we explore how we may expand our data centre service offerings.
Our ICT benchmarking work shows that the Australian Government’s use of virtualisation technology is decreasing the footprint required to deliver the same ICT outcomes and shows a number of strong trends: floor space requirements are dropping; agencies don’t need as many servers as they used to because the density is increasing.
Following this consultation with both industry and agencies, we intend to commence a refresh of the Data Centre Facilities Panel in the second half of this calendar year. Note, existing suppliers need not reapply and this activity will not affect current contracts.
I want your views on how we can do this better and I’m keen to hear from industry and agencies. This is a broad topic so I’ll get the discussion started with a few questions:
- What has worked well?
- What needs to be improved?
- Do or will the current procurement arrangements hinder take-up of Cloud Computing and other service models? If so, in what way?
- Are the current lease terms for data centre facilities still applicable?
- Are the current co-location arrangements working?
- Are data centre locations meeting business needs?
I will emphasise this point – we are seeking your input. This is a public consultation and will not affect existing contracts.
We’ll take feedback via this blog post or, if you have any sensitive matters to discuss, directly via email datacentres@finance.gov.au for the next four weeks. We’ll close the discussion on Monday 15 April at 10am.
As always, I’ll keep you informed of the outcome of this consultation. Let’s get some robust discussion started!