Phoenix Win Place on the OCRE Cloud Framework & Catalogue
The OCRE IaaS+ framework agreement will ease access to commercial cloud services for researchers and research institutions in 40 European countries and Phoenix are proud to have been selected to supply Microsoft Azure and related services to qualifying education establishments in the UK.
Phoenix see Microsoft Azure as the perfect choice for research and education. It allows quick and easy access to very powerful computing environments where complex data can be analysed, stored and shared easily and securely. It also gives researchers access to tools which can turn data into insights and enable them to collaborate with others quickly and securely to accelerate discovery. Learn more about our Azure services for Education here.
“Microsoft is delighted to collaborate with Phoenix Software as the awarded Azure partner on the OCRE framework in the UK. The OCRE framework provides a tremendous opportunity for universities and research organisations to benefit from accelerated time to insight, global scale and price-performance on the cloud built for high performance computing, data and analytics.”
Brian Gibson, EMEA Higher Education & Research Director, Microsoft
Who are OCRE?
With a total of 473 different entries in the catalogue, OCRE has made it easy to find what is available in each country. When entering into the catalogue, the user encounters a map of Europe. A country’s individual catalogue of available services is accessed by simply clicking on that country. Each entry includes a link to detailed information about the platform and a contact email address which can be used to request a quote.
OCRE Project Director David Heyns (GÉANT) said, “I am really excited by the opportunities this framework provides for the institutes, the NRENs, the European Open Science Cloud (EOSC), and the successful suppliers of these services. We look forward to showcasing the tremendous benefits that consumable commercial cloud-based services bring to the research and education community in Europe in terms of agility, flexibility and vastly improved outcomes.”
OCRE NREN Liaison and Rollout Coordinator Dr. Jakob Tendel (DFN) said, “OCRE offloads a large amount of cloud procurement work and increases community trust for NRENs and their institutions across Europe by delivering legally solid framework contracts. The service portfolio covers even more services than the previous GÉANT Cloud Framework, from do-it-all hyperscale offerings to more custom services, European and overseas providers, and supporting a wide range of data protection compliance requirements.”
The OCRE Cloud Framework and OCRE Cloud Catalogue will support state-of-the-art research and explore new ways forward for procuring, funding and using in-demand digital solutions while benefitting from volume discounts. In short, this allows research institutions to avoid bureaucratic barriers that prevent researchers from easy access to these cloud services.
