SERVICE DEFINITION
G-CLOUD 7
Compute as a Service
(Test and Development)
Classification: Open
Classification: Open
ii
© MDS Technologies Ltd 2015.
Other than for the sole purpose of evaluating this Response, no part of this material may be reproduced or transmitted in any form, or by
any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopied, recorded or otherwise or stored in any retrieval system of any nature without the
written permission of MDS Technologies Ltd.
MDS Technologies Ltd, 2 Methuen Park, Chippenham, Wiltshire, SN14 0GX
Telephone: 01225 816220, Fax: 01225 816281
CONTENTS
WHY MDS? .............................................................................................................................. 3
SUMMARY OF SERVICE BENEFITS ..................................................................................... 3
MDS AND SKYSCAPE – THE PERFECT PARTNERSHIP .................................................... 4
WHAT IS THE SERVICE? ....................................................................................................... 4
WHAT CAN I DO WITH THIS SERVICE? ............................................................................... 4
WHAT ARE THE KEY FEATURES AND BENEFITS?............................................................ 5
WHY SKYSCAPE? .................................................................................................................. 5
WHAT ARE THE KEY TECHNICAL FEATURES? ................................................................ 7
WHO IS THE SERVICE AIMED AT? ...................................................................................... 7
WHAT ARE THE SERVICE LEVELS? ................................................................................... 7
PRICING ................................................................................................................................ 11
IS THERE A TRIAL SERVICE? ............................................................................................ 16
WHAT ARE THE TERMS AND CONDITIONS? ................................................................... 16
APPENDIX ............................................................................................................................. 17
Lot 1 - Infrastructure as a Service
Service Definition: Compute as a Service -Test and Development, Issue: 5.0
Copyright: MDS Technologies Ltd 2015
WHY MDS?
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Bespoke cloud solutions that fit your business needs
Trusted provider of agile, scalable and assured digital services
Full range of cloud hosting and enablement solutions
Security Cleared (SC) operational support staff
Honest providers of services, support and practical advice
24/7 support through our ITIL-aligned Service Desk
A privately owned, UK sovereign company
We are an SME - agile with minimal bureaucracy
Providing infrastructure services to the Public Sector for over 12 years
Certified against ISO 27001, ISO 9001, ISO14001 and Cyber Essentials Plus
We listen to our customers, we understand, we deliver
PROFESSIONAL, PERSONALISED SOLUTIONS
SUMMARY OF SERVICE BENEFITS
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UK sovereign — an assured cloud platform delivered from two secure UK data centres by a
UK-based company with UK government security-cleared staff
Optimised for OFFICIAL — extensive independent validation (including CESG PGA), the
service fully aligns with the CESG 14 Cloud Security Principles, making it ideal for all data
classified at OFFICIAL (including OFFICIAL SENSITIVE) and legacy IL0–IL4 solutions
Flexible connectivity options — connect via the internet (with DDoS protection provided as
standard), a government community network (PSN Assured service, PSN Protected service,
N3; or legacy networks including PNN) or by HybridConnect — using your own dedicated
circuits such as CPA-encrypted tunnels, leased lines or MPLS
Advanced Cross Domain Security Zone — a secure managed or self-managed area that
enables citizen access over the internet to data which is securely hosted on the Elevated
domain
Exceptional value — from 1p per hour
Immediately available on both our Assured and Elevated platforms — zero delay to your
project
Flexible and adaptable — add, remove or change your solution via the Skyscape Portal or
using our fully documented API
Includes a telephone service desk function, with 24/7 support for high-priority incidents
Lot 1 - Infrastructure as a Service
Service Definition: Compute as a Service -Test and Development, Issue: 5.0
Copyright: MDS Technologies Ltd 2015
MDS AND SKYSCAPE – THE PERFECT PARTNERSHIP
MDS technologies Limited (MDS) offers a cloud platform provided by the award winning Skyscape
Cloud Services (Skyscape). We have a strong, committed relationship with Skyscape, the market
leader in the Digital Marketplace for G-Cloud Infrastructure as a Service, through a long-standing
relationship underpinned by a formal partnering agreement. We have been a Skyscape Partner since
their creation in 2011, and have resold services since the launch of the G-Cloud framework in
February 2012. MDS is a reseller, at cost, of Skyscape’s cloud services and is currently Skyscape’s
largest partner and second largest consumer of cloud services. This status enables us to provide a
high level of service to our customers and gain enhanced support from Skyscape.
As a Skyscape partner, MDS offers true National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) cloud
services, which are offered as part of a community cloud service only available to the UK Public
Sector and secured and managed in line with UK government security classifications.
Skyscape and MDS both utilise pricing models based on transparent charges and “pay for what you
use” on an hourly and/or monthly basis.
WHAT IS THE SERVICE?
Skyscape’s Compute as a Service (CaaS) provides customers with on-demand, scalable compute
resources to deliver transformational projects.
It provides customers with a virtual data centre in which they build, configure and control their Virtual
Machines (VMs), with their own self-managed firewall and full API for programmatically controlling
their compute estate - all for a simple, low, hourly price per VM.
The service enables the government’s digital transformation initiative and supports the Cloud First
policy by delivering a true cloud computing service that has achieved PSN accreditation and adheres
to the NIST definition of cloud, which includes resource pooling; on-demand, rapid scalability; and
transparent, utility-style billing.
WHAT CAN I DO WITH THIS SERVICE?
The service can help organisations:
 Deliver digital transformation projects that require high levels of security and assurance,
combined with flexibility and scalability
 Deliver new applications and services designed for cloud
 Support and facilitate agile project delivery in line with the GDS Service Design Manual
 Provide a base layer for development of new and emerging technologies such as big data
analytics and containerisation technologies
 Leverage the flexibility of cloud to reduce traditional IT costs
 Increase innovation by enabling proof of concept exercises without the complexities of CAPEX
for compute resources
Lot 1 - Infrastructure as a Service
Service Definition: Compute as a Service -Test and Development, Issue: 5.0
Copyright: MDS Technologies Ltd 2015
WHAT ARE THE KEY FEATURES AND BENEFITS?
CaaS provides an accredited, secure and highly scalable compute platform which offers the following
benefits:
Features and Benefits
Feature
Benefit
On-demand resources
You will be billed by the hour for resources used, enabling significant cost
savings if VMs are turned off when not needed and restarted when they
are.
Rapid scalability
You can build and configure VMs within minutes via a secure self-service
portal; and add or reduce resources as needed.
Choice
You can configure the solution that is right for you and your application
with a range of service levels, VM sizes and licensing options.
Service desk
Access to a 24/7 service desk is included as standard with SLA-backed
response times.
Geographic diversity
The platform spans two UK data centres separated by over 100km. So
you can confidently architect solutions, knowing that applications and
services will remain available.
Cross Domain Security This enables you to support hybrid solutions requiring code migration and
Zone
browse down management as well as reducing the risk of data leakage.
Disaster recovery (DR)
capability
One of the benefits of cloud technologies is the ability to handle system
failures. Skyscape’s Compute as a Service includes a number of out-ofthe-box solutions for DR, such as the ENHANCED service and inclusive
backups, as well as enabling customers to design their own DR solutions.
Industry standard
The platform is built using industry-standard cloud technologies powered
by VMware, giving you confidence in the stability and supportability of
your cloud solutions.
WHY SKYSCAPE?
Skyscape is a UK company founded in 2011. It is unique among cloud providers as it maintains an
exclusive focus on the UK public sector. Skyscape was one of the first G-Cloud providers to
successfully achieve CESG Pan Government Accreditation.
Skyscape’s range of on-demand, pay-for-what-you-use cloud services with no minimum commitment
are suitable for OFFICIAL and OFFICIAL SENSITIVE (formerly IL0 through IL4) data.
Skyscape helps public sector organisations lower their CO 2 emissions through reduced energy
consumption, sustainable procurement and better hardware utilisation. Skyscape is a CarbonNeutral®
Company whose data centres have a low carbon footprint and low PUE rating, and comply with the
EU Data Centre Code of Conduct.
Security assurance
Skyscape offers its cloud services from UK data centres, operated by UK government security cleared
staff. Customers’ data is therefore not subject to foreign legislation or the risk of international
surveillance or disclosure.
Lot 1 - Infrastructure as a Service
Service Definition: Compute as a Service -Test and Development, Issue: 5.0
Copyright: MDS Technologies Ltd 2015
Services are designed and built with clear alignment to the 14 CESG Cloud Security Principles that all
UK public sector organisations use when assessing cloud-hosted solutions. The Skyscape cloud
benefits from extensive independent validation via certifications ranging from international standards
(for example, ISO 9001, ISO 27001, ISO 20000) to UK public sector–specific standards (for example,
PSN, N3/HSCIC).
The cloud platforms are subject to regular, extensive IT Security Health Check (ITSHC) CHECK Tests
by independent, CESG-approved assessors to provide customers with confidence in the physical and
technical security controls which have been implemented to protect their valuable data assets.
Connectivity
Both UK data centres have resilient connections to secure UK government networks such as PSN
Assured, PSN Protected and N3, as well as large-scale, DDoS-protected internet connectivity. This
makes it possible for you to present your own connections (such as direct connectivity into your
MPLS, or inexpensive point-to-point connections via leased lines); and offer a Secure Remote Access
solution that allows secure VPN access to the Elevated OFFICIAL domain.
Flexibility
Skyscape offer simple products for delivering complex solutions, all designed to reduce security risks
without decreasing the flexibility of a cloud platform. Differentiated, commoditised products provide a
choice of IaaS, PaaS and SaaS; service levels; virtual machine sizes; and security levels.
Innovative solutions further increase cloud flexibility, such as the Cross Domain Security Zone which
enables internet-facing Assured OFFICIAL applications to connect to data stored within our Elevated
OFFICIAL domain. This allows you to keep your data safe, while letting citizens interface with the
information they need.
Public sector partnerships
Skyscape have a committed team focused on identifying partners who understand the UK public
sector and have expertise in enabling and accelerating digital transformational projects.
 Managed Service Providers (MSPs). Specialists in services relating to the design, management
and support of environments built within Skyscape’s cloud platform, helping to reduce the
complexities of platform management.
 Systems Integrators (SIs). Organisations that fully understand Skyscape’s cloud portfolio and
are experts at bringing together individual cloud components to deliver entire cloud-based
solutions.
 Developers and Independent Software Vendors (ISVs). Able to provide fully packaged
applications or SaaS solutions which leverage Skyscape’s secure cloud capabilities.
 Strategic Advisors/Consultants. For customers who require additional advice around delivering
solutions in the cloud, consultancy partners and subject specialists can help define strategy,
develop action plans and create solutions.
Lot 1 - Infrastructure as a Service
Service Definition: Compute as a Service -Test and Development, Issue: 5.0
Copyright: MDS Technologies Ltd 2015
WHAT ARE THE KEY TECHNICAL FEATURES?
Underpinning the service is a range of features that make it easy to use and control. Using the secure
portal or API, organisations can:
 Stop, start, clone and delete VMs
 Manage firewall security rules and load-balancer policies
 Reconfigure virtual hardware on the fly — changing memory, processors, network and storage
as needed
 Set and control access, user profiles and capabilities
 Upload their own VM images, applications and data, or select from Skyscape’s catalogue of
template-based standard OS configurations
 Control the environment via an easy-to-use self-service portal or programmatically through a
documented API
 Connect via a variety of networks: PSN, internet, N3, legacy networks and HybridConnect
options
The service uses VMware vSphere as the hypervisor, giving customers the widest choice of
supported operating systems within their VMs, including a large selection of open source platforms. It
includes a virtual firewall, outlined in the Technical Requirements section of the Appendix. For more
advanced or specific features, you can deploy (and license) your own appliance.
WHO IS THE SERVICE AIMED AT?
Skyscape’s CaaS is flexible enough to enable organisations to achieve many different business goals.
Examples include:
 Organisations wanting to consolidate or grow their existing infrastructure by migrating to a
secure cloud platform, significantly reducing the complexity and constraints of traditional
hosting models
 Organisations looking to quickly prove concepts without the traditional constraints of complex
CAPEX or procurement procedures
 Organisations who want to complement their existing on-premises or private cloud solutions by
using ‘cloud bursting’ for limited periods when the demand on their dedicated resources
exceeds available capacity
WHAT ARE THE SERVICE LEVELS?
Customers are advised to consider their requirements and how to design cloud ready solutions — we
can provide help and architectural support as required.
Lot 1 - Infrastructure as a Service
Service Definition: Compute as a Service -Test and Development, Issue: 5.0
Copyright: MDS Technologies Ltd 2015
TEST & DEV
Typical use cases
Short-term testing and development projects
Lower-priority workloads, such as temporary applications, data
processing or system modelling tasks
Service level agreement
99.95%
Compute environment location
Single UK data centre
Disaster recovery between data
centres
No
Performance of VM
Contended
Automated VM backup
Storage included (GB)
Optional
[1]
60
[2]
Storage options
Standard, Optimised
Protective monitoring
Included for the Assured and Elevated OFFICIAL platforms at
the hypervisor layer and below
DDoS protection
Specialist DDoS mitigation service included for services
accessed over the internet
[1] Standard storage [2] Micro VMs are limited to a 10GB storage allocation
Skyscape services can be deployed using a combination of the following:
Standard Storage
Optimised Storage
Cloud Storage
Overview
Scalable storage used by the Provides an enhanced
Compute services
performance profile
Provides Object based
storage
Availability
Included as standard
Available on request and
subject to availability
Optional – purchased
through the Skyscape
Cloud Storage offering
Use cases
Systems with human
interactions
Solid state systems with
predictable work patterns
Data warehouses
Fast transactional databases
Randomly executing
workloads
Consolidation of
multiple data sets
Multimedia storage
Archiving and backup
Options
The Skyscape Pricing Guide is a comprehensive catalogue of pricing. It includes all ancillary service
options available for use with Skyscape CaaS. Ancillary options include:
Operating systems and
software licences
Customers can choose to license certain software products through
Skyscape on the same retrospectively billed per hour/per month model.
This includes key operating systems such as Microsoft Windows and Red
Hat which are also billed per hour and added to your monthly bill.
Lot 1 - Infrastructure as a Service
Service Definition: Compute as a Service -Test and Development, Issue: 5.0
Copyright: MDS Technologies Ltd 2015
Offline facilities to
support data ingestion
and extraction
Data transfer facilities help with moving large data sets into or out of the
Skyscape cloud that would take a long time over remote links.
This can be done by visiting our site, or through a remote data upload
facility delivered by Skyscape on behalf of the customer.
Cloud access service
Allows customers to host devices such as Hardware Security Modules
(HSM), CPA Foundation-Grade security gateways and WAN acceleration
devices to consume and manage VMs on the Skyscape Compute as a
Service platform to enhance the security and performance of cloud
solutions.
Connectivity options
Skyscape’s cloud is resiliently connected to a variety of government,
public and private networks, including
 DDoS-protected internet connections
 PSN-A (Assured) and PSN-P (Protected); customers can access
legacy networks such as PNN and CJX utilising the PSN-P
connection
 N3 — Skyscape is one of a small number of N3 aggregators
allowed to carry out compliance auditing on behalf of HSCIC,
removing reliance on third parties to get onto the N3
 HybridConnect — allows customers to install their own dedicated
leased lines into the platform
Skyscape’s data centre
interconnect
Used alongside a customer's own connectivity to add resilience to
connections between Skyscape data centres.
Ideal for enabling customer-designed disaster recovery solutions, or
increasing connectivity resilience to meet internal connectivity targets.
Secure Remote Access
(SRA)
For customers not connected directly to the PSN-P looking to manage (or
those who have remote workers) solutions on the Elevated OFFICIAL
platform, Skyscape has introduced SRA to allow encrypted access over
the internet.
Cross Domain Security
Zone
For customers looking to develop solutions that span both Skyscape
platforms (Assured OFFICIAL and Elevated OFFICIAL). There are two
service options:
Skyscape managed. Providing a secure, scalable managed Cross
Domain Guard which supports structured and inspectable HTTP-based
data flows. This provides an immediately available multi-tenant Cross
Domain Guard to support simple use cases.
Self-managed. Providing self-service access to the Cross Domain
Security Zone so that customers can create their own cross-domain
solution using technology and application services of their choice. This
provides an assurance wrap by managing firewalls between the security
zones and ensuring customers use appropriate risk management to
understand and mitigate identified risks.
Lot 1 - Infrastructure as a Service
Service Definition: Compute as a Service -Test and Development, Issue: 5.0
Copyright: MDS Technologies Ltd 2015
Dedicated Compute
Provides defined resources on dedicated physical hosts. As with the ondemand VMs, customers build, configure and manage their own
environments. This model enables customers to:
 License applications that require dedicated physical hardware such
as Oracle or Windows Desktop
 Deploy whatever VM size they want (up to the maximum allowed)
using the resources available in the resource pool
 Choose the resource contention between VMs to enable greater
flexibility between VM capacity and performance
Limited support for
shared disk
configurations
It is recommend that customers implement application architectures that
are designed for cloud — these are typically loosely coupled, ‘shared
nothing’ architectures.
If customers have legacy applications or designs that need a shared disk
configuration, this can be provide as a limited service, through the
Dedicated Compute option.
Support for
performance testing
and security testing of
customers' solutions
Skyscape can provide support to allow customers to check the
performance, security and resilience of their platform.
This could include disaster recovery failover tests, IT security health
checks or vulnerability assessments.
Global Load Balancing
Enables customers to direct internet traffic across multiple end-points
(which can be across different sites or different platforms).
Skyscape subcontracts this service to Neustar, global leaders in network
and security services.
This service requires a 12 month minimum term commitment.
Application-tuned DDoS Complements Skyscape’s platform-level DDoS protection with a domainprotection
based service that can be more finely tuned to the profile of specific
applications and workloads.
Skyscape subcontracts this service to Neustar, global leaders in network
and security services.
This service requires a 12-month minimum term commitment.
Lot 1 - Infrastructure as a Service
Service Definition: Compute as a Service -Test and Development, Issue: 5.0
Copyright: MDS Technologies Ltd 2015
Premier Support
Skyscape offers a Premier Support service for customers who want
additional help to grow their Skyscape environment.
Premier Support provides a proactive service to improve customers'
solution design, and help with trend analysis and problem-solving. It
includes access to a named Technical Account Manager (TAM) and
Skyscape’s in-house technical subject matter experts (SMEs).
The Skyscape Premier Support package includes the following:
 Customised training on the Skyscape platform and related cloud
concepts delivered on your premises
 Tailored workshops with Skyscape subject matter experts to
address specific concerns and issues
 A Skyscape representative will join your team and understand your
key deliverables, milestones and impediments
 Performance analysis and solution suggestions – including ticket
trend analysis and advise on rightsizing your solution
 Quarterly reporting & reviews
 Architecture reviews to help you optimise your solution for the
Skyscape platform
 Customer related Root Cause Analysis
Direct involvement in Skyscape product development, including access to
private BETA’s (Customer Advisory Panel)
Data Transfer Facility
Skyscape recognises there are situations when managing systems or
transferring data over a wide area network (WAN) is not viable, for
example when customers have insufficient network bandwidth or are
waiting for the installation of appropriately accredited connectivity.
In response to these challenges, Skyscape offers customers a room
where they can use the secure, network connections between the
Farnborough office and the data centre.
PRICING
Pricing for VMs provided by Skyscape Cloud Services is based on actual consumption, for example
per VM per hour, per GB per month.
Total compute pricing depends on:
 VM size
 Security domain
 Storage, backup and retention
 OS and application licences and network connectivity
The table below shows pricing for Skyscape VMs. To model a total cost of ownership, customers may
want to consider additional elements such as connectivity. Pricing for these services are given in the
Skyscape G7 pricing guide.
Lot 1 - Infrastructure as a Service
Service Definition: Compute as a Service -Test and Development, Issue: 5.0
Copyright: MDS Technologies Ltd 2015
Service level
VM size
2GHz vCPU
RAM (GB)
Assured
£ / hour
Elevated
£ / hour
Test & Dev
Micro
Tiny
Small
Medium
Medium High Memory
Large
Large High Memory
Tier 1 Apps Small
Tier 1 Apps Medium
Tier 1 Apps Large
1*
1
2
4
4
8
8
8
8
8
0.5
2
4
8
16
16
32
48
64
96
£0.01
£0.03
£0.04
£0.06
£0.14
£0.18
£0.35
£0.50
£0.70
£0.95
£0.02
£0.05
£0.06
£0.10
£0.18
£0.22
£0.35
£0.60
£0.80
£1.10
* 500MHz
Storage
Storage (above
(above
included 60GB):
included
Optimised
60GB**) £ / Storage £ / 1GB /
1GB / month
month
Not available
Not available
£0.10
£0.35
** Micro VMs are limited to a 10GB storage allocation
14-day
backup
retention
£ / 1GB /
month ∆
28-day
backup
retention
£ / 1GB /
month ∆
£0.50
£0.75
∆ Storage agnostic
When a VM is stopped, storage and backup charges are incurred at a pro-rated hourly rate based on
the monthly charge. This also applies to customer-specific template images, clones and snapshots.
When a VM (and associated storage) is deleted, no charges are incurred. If you are reconfiguring or
resizing a VM outside the pre-defined templates, pricing is based on the next closest sized machine
up.
Licensing
The standard terms and conditions from Microsoft state that if you want to run a Windows Server
operating systems in the cloud, you must license it via the Government Service Provider Licence
Agreement (G-SPLA). Microsoft Developer Network (MSDN) licences are generally not permitted by
Microsoft terms and conditions.
If you are licensing Microsoft Windows Server OS, Microsoft SQL Server or Red Hat Enterprise Linux,
the following licensing charges apply:
Microsoft Windows
Server OS
VM size
Micro, Tiny VM
Small VM
Medium VM
Medium High
Memory
Large VM, Large
High Memory,
Tier One Apps
OS and application licences
Microsoft SQL
Microsoft SQL
Standard
Enterprise*
Academic
£ / hour /
VM
G-SPLA
£ / hour /
VM
Academic G-SPLA
Academic
£ / hour / £ / hour
per month
VM
/ VM
£0.002
£0.003
£0.005
£0.005
£0.007
£0.013
£0.026
£0.026
£0.008
£0.015
£0.076
£0.15
£0.15
£195
Red Hat Enterprise Linux
G-SPLA
Per month
Subscribe
through
Skyscape
£ / hour / VM
£410
£0.04
Bring Your
Own
Subscriptions
No charge
£0.29
£390
£825
£0.09
* Note that SQL Enterprise is bought on a monthly basis. You must report the quantity you need each
month to Skyscape.
Lot 1 - Infrastructure as a Service
Service Definition: Compute as a Service -Test and Development, Issue: 5.0
Copyright: MDS Technologies Ltd 2015
In addition, per VM Windows Standard Licences (for customers not eligible for G-SPLA licensing) are
available — bought per month, £20 per operating system environment.
Dedicated compute
To establish Dedicated Compute pricing, follow these steps:
Step 1: Choose backup and retention policies
Step 2: Choose number of Starter Packs and Upgrade Packs required
Step 3: Select OS and application licences
Please note:
 You can buy a maximum of nine Upgrade Packs before you must buy another Starter Pack
 The lead time is a minimum of 10 days
 The minimum term is 90 days
 The cancellation notice required is 90 days
 Storage is bought on a per-GB basis and is not dedicated
ESSENTIAL/TEST&DEV/BASIC (excluding backup)
Type
Starter Pack
Upgrade
Pack
Specification
Assured
OFFICIAL
£ / Pack / Month
Elevated
OFFICIAL
£ / Pack / Month
BASIC Storage
(Primary storage only)
£ / GB / Month
Optimised
BASIC Storage
£ / GB / month
£9,000
£11,000
£0.10
£0.35
£4,500
£5,500
£0.10
£0.35
20 cores
300GB RAM
(usable)
20 cores
300GB RAM
(usable)
STANDARD (including backup)
Type
Starter
Pack
Upgrade
Pack
Specification
Assured
OFFICIAL
£ / Pack /
Month
Elevated
OFFICIAL
£ / Pack /
Month
STANDARD
Storage
(including 14day backup)
£ / GB / month
Optimised
STANDARD Storage
(including 14-day
backup)
£ / GB / month
28 day
backup
retention
£ / GB / month
£9,000
£11,000
£0.20
£0.45
£0.15
£4,500
£5,500
£0.20
£0.45
£0.15
20 cores
300GB RAM
(usable)
20 cores
300GB RAM
(usable)
Select OS and application licence if required
OS and application licences
Type
Starter
Pack
Upgrade
Pack
Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL)
Subscribe through
Bring Your Own
Skyscape
Subscriptions
Per month
Microsoft Windows
G-SPLA Per month
Microsoft Windows
SPLA
Per month
£100
£150
£100
£50
£75
£50
No charge
Lot 1 - Infrastructure as a Service
Service Definition: Compute as a Service -Test and Development, Issue: 5.0
Copyright: MDS Technologies Ltd 2015
Discount and purchase schemes
Customers can choose between three discount or purchase schemes:
Option 1: Commitment discount (available for all services except Cloud Storage and Dedicated
Storage)
Customers commit to spending a specific minimum amount each month for a minimum of 12 months.
The discount level attained is based on the total spend committed.
To achieve the discount, the customer will fix a value that they will commit to spend for each month of
the term. This must be in a single Puchase Order (PO) with each month as a separate line item. As
customers can consume more than their committed amount each month, they must also add an
additional line item and value to cover any overspend. This must be part of the same PO.
If the customer has an existing contract, they need to accept a Contract Change Notice and set the
values as outlined above. If multiple contracts are affected, any changes will be made via a Side
Letter.
PO value
Discount level
<£250K
0%
£250K–£499K
9%
£500K–£749K
13%
£750K–-£1,499k
16%
£1,500K +
19%
 Individual projects or departments (billing entities associated with each monthly spend) can be
amended during the year through discussion with and agreement from Skyscape; however the
committed value cannot be reduced midterm.
 Customers get a discounted rate for each month up to the set monthly figure only, not for
overuse.
 At the end of each month Skyscape will do one of two things:
 If the actual usage is above the committed value, Skyscape will take the value from the
monthly commitment line item and the remaining balance from the overspend line item
 If the actual usage is below the set value, Skyscape will bill the customer the committed
value
 At the end of the 12 months, Skyscape will rebate the customer the value of the applicable
discount over the 12-month period minus any overuse for the last month; for example, the
invoice for month 12 is for the committed consumption plus any overuse at standard prices with
the potential for a 12-month rebate.
 If the overspend PO line item value is spent before the end of the 12 months, the customer
must issue a top-up PO value for the remainder of the 12 months, or increase their spend and
commit to a further 12 months.
 The customer will pay for any usage above the set amount at the standard rates.
 The discount is set based on the committed PO value, not the actual usage.
Lot 1 - Infrastructure as a Service
Service Definition: Compute as a Service -Test and Development, Issue: 5.0
Copyright: MDS Technologies Ltd 2015
Option 2: Annual subscription discount
Customers can gain a discount off the standard rates by subscribing to pay for VMs for a minimum
12-month period. Skyscape will take the discount off the annualised hourly cost of the VM which is
payable in 12 equal monthly payments, regardless of actual usage.
Subscription period
Discount level
12 months
9%
Customers must specify the quantity of VMs (by VM size and service level) they wish to subscribe to.
The Skyscape billing system will automatically offset the cost of VMs which exactly match the size
and service level of the specified VMs. All other VMs and ancillary services (such as additional
storage allocated to subscribed VMs) will be billed at standard Skyscape rates.
Worked example
If you know you will consume a minimum of 20 Large, Assured OFFICIAL T&D/Essential VMs for at
least a year, you can make an annual subscription to those 20 VMs and receive an effective 9%
discount. A Large, Assured OFFICIAL T&D/Essential VM costs £0.18 per hour, therefore £1576.80
per year (£0.18 x 24 hours per day x 365 days), so 20 of these VMs would usually cost £31,536 per
year.
If you subscribe to these 20 VMs for a year, you'll get a 9% discount (£2838.24), reducing the annual
cost to £28,697.76, billed at £2,391.48 per month. In months where you use less than 20 VMs, you'll
still be billed £2,391.48. In months where you use more than 20 VMs, the additional VMs will be billed
at standard Skyscape rates.
Option 3: Cloud credits
The Cloud Credits option allows organisations to purchase Cloud Credits upfront and redeem them
against Skyscape cloud services over a maximum two-year period. This allows organisations to
effectively commit their CAPEX or budget spend in advance, with monthly usage deducted from the
balance until depleted.
 Every £1 spent on Cloud Credits equals £1 to be spent on Skyscape cloud services
 The purchase of Cloud Credits can be made against any G7 Service Description, and Cloud
Credits are transferable between services.
 Cloud Credits can be used for a single service or a combination of services or orders.
 Any unused Cloud Credits at the end of the two-year period are non-refundable.
Worked example
If you know you will consume at least £550,000 of Skyscape cloud services over a two year period
based on previous or projected usage, you may choose to pre-pay this amount. You will receive a
value of £550,000 worth of Cloud Credits to be used against any Skyscape service over a maximum
two-year period.
You will receive a monthly invoice, with payment automatically taken from your Skyscape Cloud
Credits, if available. You will need to inform our finance department if you wish to make any
amendments to how your invoices are paid.
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Service Definition: Compute as a Service -Test and Development, Issue: 5.0
Copyright: MDS Technologies Ltd 2015
IS THERE A TRIAL SERVICE?
Skyscape offers a 30-day free trial.
Free Trial conditions, as outlined in Appendix A of Skyscape's Standard Terms and Conditions, apply.
WHAT ARE THE TERMS AND CONDITIONS?
Please refer to the terms and conditions document for full details.
The appendix at the end of this service description provides a service summary.
Lot 1 - Infrastructure as a Service
Service Definition: Compute as a Service -Test and Development, Issue: 5.0
Copyright: MDS Technologies Ltd 2015
APPENDIX
On-boarding and off-boarding
On-boarding
Upon receipt of a completed order form and
purchase order, within 4 normal business
hours Skyscape will create the customer’s
Primary Administrator account and send a
Welcome Pack which includes the URL for the
Skyscape Customer Portal and associated
authentication details.
The customer’s Administrator can then raise a
support request to add services. Via the Portal
the Administrator can create additional user
accounts and allocate roles and privileges for
users within their project.
As Skyscape has two UK data centres, a
customer can request to be deployed into a
specific data centre at the time of the order.
Although it's unlikely a request would ever be
rejected, this remains at Skyscape’s discretion.
Off-boarding
Prior to terminating the contract, the customer
is able to transfer all their data out of the
solution (such as using the Skyscape portal to
export VMs).
When the organisation terminates its
agreement with Skyscape, Skyscape ensures
all of the organisation’s data is deleted.
Skyscape IaaS. Skyscape will be pleased to
make an introduction where appropriate.
Skyscape Cloud Services may use Neustar,
Inc as subcontractor for the Global Load
Balancing or Application-tuned DDoS
Protection additional services.
Service constraints
The Skyscape platform is engineered to be
highly resilient and can tolerate both
unplanned component failure and planned
maintenance activities. Skyscape is committed
to frequent and regular maintenance of the
platform to ensure that the service delivers the
highest levels of security and availability. The
following conditions apply:
Compute as a Service
“Planned Maintenance” means any preplanned maintenance of any of the
infrastructure relating to the service. In
accordance with our design principles,
Planned Maintenance will have no impact on
the availability of the VMs running on the
service. However, the Planned Maintenance
activity may result in short periods of degraded
service (for example, temporary performance
degradation). In such cases, Skyscape shall
provide affected customers with at least
fourteen (14) days advance notice of the
Planned Maintenance.
Service management
As a true cloud service aligned to the NIST
definition of IaaS, the service is designed to be
self-managed via the secure online Skyscape
Portal or API, which provide common service
management functionality and address
standard requirements.
If during Planned Maintenance there is a loss
of availability to VMs on Compute as a
Service, an SLA event will be triggered, and
for affected customers this time shall be
included in the availability calculation and
monthly service reporting related to Compute
as a Service.
Customers procuring the Skyscape Premier
Support service will be assigned a Technical
Account Manager, who will conduct quarterly
reviews with the customer and provide
services such as ticket trend analysis and
route cause analysis for customer-specific
issues.
“Emergency Maintenance” means any
emergency maintenance of any of the
infrastructure relating to the service. Whenever
possible, Skyscape shall: a) provide affected
customers with at least six (6) hours’ advance
notice and b) carry out the emergency
maintenance between the hours of 00:00 and
06:00 (UK local time) Monday to Sunday or
between the hours of 08:00 and 12:00 (UK
local time) on Saturday or Sunday, unless
there is an identified and demonstrable
immediate risk to customer environment(s).
For organisations that require a more
managed service, Skyscape works with a
number of Partners who can provide a
Managed Service wrapper around the
Lot 1 - Infrastructure as a Service
Service Definition: Compute as a Service -Test and Development, Issue: 5.0
Copyright: MDS Technologies Ltd 2015
Emergency Maintenance may result in periods
of degradation or loss of availability depending
on the nature of the activity required.
If during Emergency Maintenance there is a
loss of availability to VMs on Compute as a
Service, an SLA event will be triggered.
However, this time shall be excluded in the
availability calculation but will be included in
monthly service reporting related to Compute
as a Service.
Customer Portal and API
“Planned Maintenance” means any preplanned maintenance of any of the
infrastructure relating to the administrative
components of the services (the Customer
Portal and API). Planned Maintenance activity
may require short periods of downtime or
degraded service (for example, loss of ability
to manage or change the services via the
Customer Portal and API). In such cases,
Skyscape shall provide affected customers
with at least fourteen (14) days' advance
notice of the Planned Maintenance.
If during Planned Maintenance there is a loss
of availability to the Customer Portal and API,
an SLA event will be triggered. However, this
time shall be excluded in the availability
calculation but will be included in monthly
service reporting related to the Customer
Portal and API service.
“Emergency Maintenance” means any
emergency maintenance of any of the
infrastructure relating to the services.
Whenever possible, Skyscape shall: a) provide
affected customers with at least six (6) hours’
advance notice and b) carry out the
emergency maintenance between the hours of
00:00 and 06:00 (UK local time) Monday to
Sunday or between the hours of 08:00 and
12:00 (UK local time) on Saturday or Sunday,
unless there is an identified and demonstrable
immediate risk to customer environment(s).
Emergency Maintenance may result in periods
of degradation or loss of availability depending
on the nature of the activity required.
If during Emergency Maintenance there is a
loss of availability to the Customer Portal and
API, an SLA event will be triggered. However,
this time shall be excluded in the availability
calculation but will be included in monthly
service reporting related to the Customer
Portal and API service.
Training
Skyscape has created a number of videos,
help guides, manuals and FAQs to help train
and instruct users so that they get up and
running quickly and easily.
Skyscape also has a number of Partners who
can deliver additional services such as
training, support and managed services.
Skyscape would be pleased to introduce you
to such Partners as appropriate.
Customers of the Premier Support service will
also receive bespoke training to meet their
needs — either onsite or at Skyscape offices.
Ordering and invoicing
This service is offered subject to availability.
Billing for the service is:
 Via Purchase Order
 At point of order for up-front fees
 Annually in advance for pre-payment
fees
 Monthly in arrears for monthly fees
Payment can be made by direct bank transfer
(BACS/CHAPS).
Service lead time
Setting up a new account will typically be
completed within 4 hours from order
acceptance. Once a compute environment has
been set up, customers have instant access to
additional compute and storage resources with
no notice period required. This is all managed
by the customer themselves.
Termination
Terms
At the point of termination, all customer data,
accounts and access will be permanently
deleted, and will not be able to be
subsequently recovered or restored.
Customers using the Global Load Balancing or
Application-tuned DDoS Protection additional
services have a minimum term of 12 months
for these specific services.
Lot 1 - Infrastructure as a Service
Service Definition: Compute as a Service -Test and Development, Issue: 5.0
Copyright: MDS Technologies Ltd 2015
Costs
There are no termination costs for this service.
Customers are responsible for extracting their
own data from the platform if required.
Skyscape may make an additional charge for
transferring data out of the service.
Data restoration / service migration
For service migration, Skyscape allows
existing VM images built using VMware or a
compatible Open Virtualisation Format (OVF)
to be migrated to and from the platform via the
Skyscape Portal.
In many circumstances, Skyscape can help
facilitate a bulk migration to the platform using
offline data ingest and extraction — please ask
Skyscape for details.
Customer responsibilities
 The control and management of access
and responsibilities for end users
including appropriate connectivity,
security and accreditation if required. If
access is required over Government
Secure Networks such as N3 or PSN,
the customer is responsible for adhering
to the Code of Connection and for
assigning appropriate IP addresses from
their own allocation to their services
hosted on the Skyscape platform.
 Management and administration of
layers above the hypervisor (OS
patching, application performance
monitoring, user administration).
 As a core benefit of the cloud platform,
customers are expected to self-manage
the environment including provisioning,
stopping/starting virtual machines, AV,
patching, etc. If customers license
operating systems through Skyscape,
they will have access to update
repositories.
 Customers must be aware of the
variable nature of the billing based on
usage.
 The customer is also responsible for
ensuring that only appropriate data is
stored and processed by applications on
this environment, and that they comply
with the Skyscape Security Operating
Procedures (SyOPs) and other
information assurance requirements,
such as Protective Monitoring or as
specified in Skyscape System
Interconnect and Security Policy (SISP)
and associated accreditation
documentation sets.
Financial recompense model
If the service level falls below the stated
availability percentage (excluding Planned and
Emergency Maintenance periods), customers
will be eligible for Service Credits on affected
VMs only. Service Credits will be calculated as
a percentage of the fees for the affected
services for the monthly billing period during
which the failure occurred (to be applied at the
end of the billing cycle).
Service level
Service Credit
T&D /
ESSENTIAL
3% of the affected VMs
monthly spend
Technical requirements
Customers will require appropriate network
connectivity such as internet access (Assured
Security Domain) or accredited connectivity
such as a government secure network
(Elevated Security Domain) to the Skyscape
cloud platforms. Connectivity via the internet, a
government secure network (PSN or N3) or
private leased line is available but may incur
additional charges if hosting of CPE routers is
required — see the pricing section for more
details. Where they are required, customers
are responsible for procuring and managing
appropriate devices or software to meet the
requirement for data security over the various
forms of connectivity.
Customers can choose from a number of
options with Skyscape to access their
environment depending on their requirements.
The list below provides a guide to what is
possible but engagement with Skyscape may
be required to explain and validate further:
Assured OFFICAL — lower-security domain
 Standard internet connectivity over
common protocols (e.g. HTTP, HTTPS,
SSH)
 N3 — for access to the Health and
Social Care community. You will need to
successfully complete the N3
Lot 1 - Infrastructure as a Service
Service Definition: Compute as a Service -Test and Development, Issue: 5.0
Copyright: MDS Technologies Ltd 2015
Information Governance Statement of
Compliance process
 Site-to-site VPN using standardsbased CPA-approved solutions
 PSN Assured service — you need to be
a PSN Service Provider or an HMG
customer that has existing PSN
certification
 Dedicated bonded fibre
connectivity within the Skyscape
data centre
 HybridConnect — private circuit
solutions including:
 CAS(T)-compliant connections
(leased line, MPLS)
 Non-CAS(T)-compliant
connections (leased line, MPLS)
using additional CPA/PEPAS
overlay encryption
 Site-to-site VPN using standardsbased IPSEC solutions
 Dedicated fibre connectivity within
the Skyscape data centre
Elevated OFFICIAL — higher-security
domain
 Preferred connectivity is over a
Government Secure Network such as
N3 or PSN
 N3 — for access to the Health and
Social Care community. You will need to
successfully complete the N3
Information Governance Statement of
Compliance process (additional controls
may need to be implemented to enable
N3 access to the higher-security
Elevated OFFICIAL domain)
 Site-to-site VPN using CAPSapproved solutions (Ultra AEP
X-Kryptor)
Virtual firewall
A virtual firewall is included in the service.
Customers can request additional instances of
this firewall but should note that each instance
has the following performance limitations.
Customers should consider deploying
alternative firewalls if needed.
 Maximum SSL VPN sessions: 5
 Maximum IPSEC VPNs: up to 64
tunnels
 Maximum firewall concurrent
connections: 750,000
 Firewall performance: 7.2Gbps (this
includes traffic between tiers within the
cloud environment)
 Maximum load balancer concurrent
connections: 6,000
 PSN Protected service — you need to
be a PSN Service Provider or an HMG
customer that has PSN certification
 Legacy GCF networks such as PNN, via
the PSN Protected service
 Skyscape Secure Remote Access
service
 HybridConnect — private circuit
solutions including:
 CAS(T)-compliant connections
(leased line, MPLS) using
additional CPA/PEPAS overlay
encryption
 Non-CAS(T)-compliant
connections (leased line, MPLS)
using additional CPA/PEPAS
overlay encryption
Lot 1 - Infrastructure as a Service
Service Definition: Compute as a Service -Test and Development, Issue: 5.0
Copyright: MDS Technologies Ltd 2015