Telstra is designing a new cloud environment aimed at the public sector, with the new product set to compete against Microsoft’s recently launched Australian data centres.
The move comes after Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull and Finance Minister Mathias Cormann released a “cloud-first” ICT policy for the federal government in October.
Telstra’s new service, dubbed The Government Cloud, will be able to host both UNCLASSIFIED and PROTECTED level data, and will launch during the first half of 2015.
Microsoft gained a key Industry Security Registered Assessors Program (IRAP) compliance prior to the Australian Azure data centre launch, making it a competitor to Telstra’s new service.
Mirroring Microsoft’s Azure Marketplace, an app store-style marketplace for cloud services, Telstra launched its Telstra Apps Marketplace in October. Unfortunately, Telstra’s marketplace currently has just two apps, Box and DocuSign.
The news is significant, as developing cloud-based services for the marketplaces is a potential business opportunity for Australian small businesses in the ICT sector.
Andrew Sadauskas is a former journalist at SmartCompany and a former editor of TechCompany.
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