RFT for Cloud Marketplace 2.0 put on hold

The Digital Transformation Agency has delayed its request for tender for the project to deliver a new Cloud Marketplace due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on nearly every Australian business.

The agency was scheduled to approach the market this month to establish the Cloud Marketplace 2.0, which was due to replace the current Cloud Services Panel (CSP) as the go-to acquisition hub for cloud services.

Instead the request for tender will be deferred until at least June this year, and the current CSP arrangement extended until the end of March next year.

The CSP currently hosts almost 500 cloud services from over 240 sellers. Existing sellers will be able to add new cloud offerings or update their current cloud services, but no new sellers will be able to join the arrangement.

The company will stop charging the Supplier Administration Fee for cloud service providers listed on the panel from April, and plans to implement improvements to the cloud services catalogue and related reporting requirements to address stakeholder feedback.

The Cloud Marketplace 2.0 will by contrast use the more open-ended approach of the Digital Marketplace. It will be designed to allow sellers to offer any ICT functionality as a cloud service, and to offer cloud computing-based professional services.