Sungard Availability Services (Sungard AS) has launched its sovereign managed cloud platform consulting and services for the UK public sector on Amazon Web Services (AWS).
The ‘Sungard AS’ Managed Cloud – AWS’ offering is a UK Sovereign service is designed to allow the public sector to run Sensitive and Official Sensitive data on AWS, managed by a highly-skilled and security-cleared DevOps team provided by the supplier, and was designed to provide the public sector with the ability to fully benefit from the cost savings, risk management, and agility cloud computing has provided the commercial sector for more than a decade, claims the vendor.
To achieve sovereign status, the service aligns to the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) Cloud Security Principles, which ensure that data is always located on UK soil and personnel with access have the appropriate clearance including both SC+ (Security Cleared+) and NPPV (Non-Police Personnel Vetting) and are UK citizens.
The launch builds on Sungard AS’ expertise with G-Cloud since 2014 with UK sovereign private cloud capabilities which underpin official sensitive workloads for Critical National infrastructure, Police Forces and Central Government. This is in addition to the broad range of public sector private cloud implementations by Sungard AS which host publicly available, non-sensitive, data, and is backed by five years’ vendor experience in offering cloud hosting services for G-Cloud, combined with experience as an AWS Managed Service Provider (MSP) Partner, while the firm points out it also achieved AWS Storage Competency status and already offers a Cloud Recovery – AWS solution.
With the UK government’s Cloud First initiative encouraging the public sector to consider the cloud before any other approach, Sungard AS’ service will significantly broaden the number of workloads that can benefit. Further elements of the Central Government, Police Force and Critical National Infrastructure will for the first time be able to work with an AWS MSP with the right knowledge and skills to deliver resilient, managed, and secure solutions on AWS.
“This new UK Sovereign service further broadens our ability to help the public sector in managing risk and maintaining the sovereignty of their data,” said Chris Huggett, Senior Vice President Sales, Europe and India at Sungard Availability Services.
“Our relationship with AWS empowers UK public sector organisations to become more connected than ever before and manage risk effectively. It will ensure data is secure and increase the resilience of physical and digital infrastructure, all while cutting costs.”
The service will provide:
- A Managed Cloud – AWS service for workloads and data classified as ‘Sensitive’ and ‘Official Sensitive’
- The agility that the AWS platform provides, whilst being confident that sensitive data is protected without having to build an AWS practice in house
- Hosting includes Critical National Infrastructure (CNI) for services that are essential to maintain the security and wellbeing of the United Kingdom
- SC+ cleared consulting services with a proven track record of providing sovereign services to both Central and Local government, including cloud, hosting and recovery for efficient adoption
- SC+ cleared highly skilled DevOps team, providing 24×7 management of public sector AWS infrastructure
- A way to cost cuts by replacing legacy IT infrastructure.
Sungard AS’ services will help a broad range of the public sector take new workloads and applications on to a public cloud platform, all of which will be wholly sovereign and operated by experts that have been security cleared in the UK, the company adds.
With growing sensitivities following GDPR, this will ensure that public sector workloads, with specific needs for data sovereignty and privacy, can enjoy the innovation of AWS and the resilience expertise of Sungard AS, while the launch is a further demonstration of Sungard AS’ considerable expertise working with AWS having achieved Managed Service Provider (MSP) Partner status after meeting the criteria of a rigorous independent audit, it claims.
Sungard AS is also a member of the AWS Solution Space Partner program based on its attainment of the AWS Storage Competency, featuring AWS Partner Network (APN) Partners that offer customer-ready solutions based on architectures validated by AWS.
Sungard AS’ end-to-end hybrid IT services include cloud management for production and recovery, colocation, managed hosting and security consulting across a global footprint. Learn more about Sungard AS’ managed cloud and recovery services on AWS.
Sungard Availability Services (“Sungard AS”) is a leading provider of critical production and recovery services to global enterprise companies. Sungard AS partners with customers across the globe to understand their business needs and provide production and recovery services tailored to help them achieve their desired business outcomes. Leveraging more than 40 years of experience, Sungard AS designs, builds and runs critical IT services that help customers manage complex IT, adapt quickly and build resiliency and availability.