Standard

Cloud Hosting Platform

This standard covers the cloud computing hosting platform used for the development, operation and maintenance of all bespoke, DfE-developed products.

Part of: Standards collection

Purpose

It is relevant whether the product is developed and maintained in-house or by a 3rd party entity. It applies to the full delivery lifecycle, through scope, discover, deliver, run and maintain.

Software as a Service (SaaS) products e.g. AWS Route 53, Splunk, Microsoft 365 are not within the scope of this standard.

It describes the permitted public cloud platform for hosting applications, storing data and running services - offering access, management and development of applications and services through global data centres, providing a range of resources and capabilities, including Platform as a Service (PaaS) and Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS).

DfE operates a single cloud computing provider to:

  • streamline operations and reduce complexity
  • achieve cost savings, through volume discounts and bundled services
  • enable use of a single, consistent set of tools and management interfaces
  • simplify the orchestration of management processes, for easier oversight and tighter control of data security and compliance
  • reduce the risk of errors and make it easier to manage integration, by taking advantage of the seamless interoperability between the cloud services offered by a single vendor
  • enhance efficiency, expertise and the management of transferable skills and capability within the organisation, to optimise training, recruitment and retention activity

Categories

Architecture

  • Solution Architecture
  • Technical Architecture

Technical

  • Security Management

How to meet this standard

Ensure you develop and operate your bespoke cloud-based applications within the DfE centrally-managed Azure environments, tenants and landing zones.

Follow the DfE Azure Platforms guidance (DfE staff only) and data decommissioning guidance (DfE Intranet).

Governance

Annual review

Version history
Version Date Details
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