Addressing the Challenges with the Australian Government Data Centre Strategy
In 2008 the Australian Government commissioned a review into its ICT use, and upon the findings a whole-of-government data centre strategy was endorsed to avoid ad-hoc ICT infrastructure costs. The Australian Government data centre strategy 2010-2025 was published in March 2010 with a savings target of $1 billion over a 15-year period.
Since it’s implementation the data centre strategy has faced an evolving set of challenges, including:
sovereignty risks of data held in Australian data centres
- sovereignty and security risks of the hosting supply chain
- data migration risks associated with changes in data centre ownership
- encouraging industry and government innovation within a cost-constrained environment
- providing investment certainty to stakeholder agencies and industry partners
- taking advantage of emerging Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) solutions while managing legacy non-cloud ICT operations.
Reducing risks through sovereignty and security.
Macquarie Government together with Macquarie Data Centres has, for more than 15 years, been the leading provider in the provision of 100% sovereign, secure government cloud services to 42% of Australian Government agencies. The group builds and manages its own Canberra-based data centres with 100% local support and services boasting over 180 NV1 cleared engineers – a qualification which requires a comprehensive certification process and Australian Citizenship as a minimum requirement.
Macquarie Government’s recent announcement of the new IC5 Bunker in Canberra will be the most advanced data centre in Canberra on completion in February 2021. Built to Tier IV data centre standards it will be SCEC Zone 5 ready, and supported by more than 120+ AGSVA cleared staff.
The IC5 Bunker data centre will house state-of-the-art facilities and compliance credentials, not just for Australian Government agencies but also for many businesses that service government agencies, or that are required to run cloud workloads at the PROTECTED, SECRET and above levels. The IC5 Bunker data centre capabilities are built for government requirements:
- designed and built to Tier IV standard
- carrier-neutral including ICON connectivity
- 24×7 security monitoring and on-site security guards
- 24×7 on-site support
- Compliance and certifications: ISO 27001, ISO 9001, ISO 14001, ISO 45001, SCEC Zone4 and higher, PCI DSS, SOC2 and PSPF assessed, 120+AGSVA cleared staff
- SCEC Zone 5 ready
- PUE, 1.37
Reducing data migration risks due to data centre ownership.
Data centre providers who are headquartered overseas, or who onsell other’s data centre capacity present distinct data security risks. Providers who are headquartered elsewhere are subject to foreign jurisdictions which may impact data held within Australia, and providers who onsell and don’t own their own data centre facilities introduce new and indirect entities into the provision of their data centre services.
Macquarie Technology Group builds and operates its own data centres, meaning there are less entities to trust, and less risk of provider changes that necessitate a migration of government data to an alternative provider.
Addressing government SaaS requirements.
A 2018 Gartner study shows a strong preference for hybrid cloud solutions worldwide. Gartner foresees double-digit growth in government use of public cloud services, with spending forecast to grow on average 17% per year through to 2021. Governments are expected to implement private cloud at twice the rate of public cloud through 2021.
Macquarie Government is the first and only Australian sovereign cloud provider to supply and manage government cloud services, data centre and Secure Internet Gateway (SIG) services all under one umbrella. The Secure Cloud portfolio includes:
Protected Cloud
Unclassified DLM Cloud
Unclassified Cloud
Secure Cloud Exchange
If you need to move VMware workloads to cloud from your in-house data centre, Macquarie Government works work hand-in-hand with VMware to scale your cloud quickly and easily. Moving workloads is a simple as a drag and drop process. Our cloud appears as another zone with all the security you need to keep your data safe.
About Macquarie Government.
Since 2008, Macquarie Government, part of the ASX-listed Macquarie Technology Group (ASX: MAQ), has been trusted by 42% of the Australian Government to provide secure, sovereign and compliant cloud, cyber security and data centre services.
Macquarie Government’s cloud, housed in our own data centres, has been certified by the Australian Signals Directorate (ASD) to handle Protected (Classified) data, and is supported by our own local 24×7 Hosting Management Centre and Security Operations Centre (SOC). With over 120 government-cleared engineering specialists, we are always here to help.