Since its launch earlier this year, the OCRE 2024 Framework – the third iteration of GÉANT’s flagship Cloud Frameworks – has been gaining momentum, registering increasing adoption from Research and Education institutions and public organisations all across Europe. A few months into the Framework’s rollout, 60 participants with a shared interest in advancing the interaction between the R&E community and commercial cloud providers gathered in Utrecht over the course of two days for an official launch event.
Organised by the GÉANT (GN5-2) project Above-the-Net Services team and held at the NH Hotel Utrecht, the event brought together Cloud Service Delivery Managers (CSDMs) from European NRENs, GÉANT project members, and representatives from cloud service providers and platforms part of the Framework. The aim was to strengthen the collaboration among all parties involved, answer questions emerging from the first few months of the framework and ultimately improve delivery and accelerate implementation.
The journey and structure of the OCRE 2024 Framework
The two-days event kicked off with a welcome and introduction session by Jakob Tendel (DFN) and Maria Ristkok (EENet, Ministry of Education and Research), co-leaders of the GÉANT Clouds team within the GÉANT project.
Garvan McFeeley (HEAnet) introduced the history and context around the series of GÉANT Cloud Frameworks, reflecting on their evolution from an ambitious and bold idea into a successful, established and widely adopted initiative. He highlighted the impressive growth, in terms of countries, institutions involved and overall spending, as well as the extraordinary cross-NREN collaboration that made the framework possible, as reflected for instance in the international team that dedicated regular time across five months to score the massive OCRE 2024 tender.
A walkthrough of the OCRE 2024 Framework was provided by Monique Pellinkhof (GÉANT), who explained its scope, structure, and guiding principles. A key part of Monique’s presentation was also the detailed explanation of the three possible awarding methods under the OCRE 2024 Framework and of their permitted uses, specifically the cascade method, the mini-competition, and the desktop mini-competition. With the help of Badreddine Ajbar El Gueriri (GÉANT), the session was made even more dynamic through a short quiz, which brought energy into the room and sparked interaction.
For further information on the awarding methods please refer to the guides to using the OCRE 2024 Framework: https://clouds.geant.org/resources/
Enabling the OCRE 2024 Framework’s success
With the framework now at its third iteration and building on years of experience, the delivery chain has become a reliable and well-oiled component of the framework, connecting NRENs, institutions and service providers in a cohesive and efficient system. At the event, Eva Nestorovska (PCSS) presented the user-facing function of this chain, which plays a fundamental role in coordinating and supporting the community of European CSDMs, enabling CSDMs in their role towards local institutions, collecting feedback and stories from the community, promoting service adoption.
Leanne Walsh (HEAnet) offered a complementary view on the equally important work of the Contract Management Group (CMG), a team involving members both from GÉANT and from NRENs, answering queries from OCRE 2024 service providers and NRENs through the service desk, managing requests, taking care of day to day framework operations, providing info packs about the framework to CSDMs, coordinating the collection data and production of quarterly reports. In line with this, Branko Radojević (PCSS) introduced the Validator, a new tool aimed at streamlining reporting processes and verifying the accuracy of the data collected.
The perspective of service providers – collaboration, solutions, and success stories
The event welcomed strong participation from representatives of all the Original Infrastructure Providers (OIPs), hyperscaler platforms, and suppliers involved in the framework, with several taking stage to present their offerings, strategic plans, and their initial or continued experience with the GÉANT Cloud Frameworks.
A recurring theme across presentations was the commitment to European digital sovereignty, with both global and European providers outlining their efforts towards this relevant theme. Sustainability and compliance were also central topics, as well as the importance of strategic collaboration with GÉANT and with the community of European NRENs, in order to realise the framework’s full potential, deliver impact, share success stories, and drive continuous improvement together.
Ultimately, the event provided a productive forum for dialogue and feedback exchange, including a 1.5 hour discussion welcomed with enthusiasm and fresh ideas by representatives of NRENs and commercial providers alike, leaving many eager to repeat a similar event in the future. Opportunities for direct engagement between CSDMs and service providers were also provided throughout the two days in the form of one-to-one meetings, further strengthening collaboration across the framework.
The OCRE 2024 Framework is now available for tens of thousands of research and education institutions and public organisations in 39 countries. Visit the OCRE 2024 Catalogue to discover all available cloud service offerings: https://clouds.geant.org/ocre-2024-catalogue
