OCRE framework for Microsoft Azure
Enhance your cloud capability with Microsoft Azure through the OCRE framework.
Since January 2021, Phoenix Software has provided Microsoft Azure cloud services to research institutions, universities, and NREN members in the UK through the OCRE framework.
Enabling innovation with Azure for education and research institutes
By working with OCRE, we will accelerate cloud adoption and enhance capabilities in the education and research community. This page will be regularly updated with all the latest news and events that will help you find all the information you need about OCRE and the advantages of procuring Microsoft Azure for education through the OCRE framework.
Utilising the OCRE framework for research and IT
European academic research and science is at the forefront of solving global challenges at a rapidly increasing rate and is dominated by exponentially growing data. Researchers are overcoming the challenges of scale, collaboration, and compliance, while minimising cost and complexity, by using Microsoft Azure to achieve unmatched time to insight, scale, and price-performance in the cloud built for high performance computing, data, and analytics.
University’s central technical infrastructure requirements are increasingly complex with thousands of applications and services and a diverse infrastructure. Microsoft Azure provides a secure, scalable cloud infrastructure that will run your mission-critical applications with increased operational agility and security.
Using Microsoft Azure’s high-performance computing, data and analytics – procured through the Open Clouds for Research Environments (OCRE) framework – institutions can accelerate tender award processes and overcome the challenges of scale, collaboration and compliance while minimising cost and complexity.
Making Azure adoption easier with OCRE
The OCRE framework, available to GÉANT members, enables over 10,000 universities and research institutions, served by 40 National Research and Education Network (NREN) organisations across Europe, to benefit from:
Significant discounts across Azure services
Ready-to-use contracts designed to satisfy national and European public sector procurement regulations and GDPR requirements
Significantly reduced network traffic costs with Microsoft services connected to the high-performance data networks provided by GÉANT and its NREN partners
Leveraging Azure Active Directory (AD) to provide federated single sign on (SSO) and enable role-based access control (RBAC) and governance of Azure services
Azure Professional Direct Support discounts
Leveraging Microsoft Software Assurance and Student Use Benefits to further reduce Azure costs
Discover the value of the OCRE framework from our education specialists
Join us in bite-size formats to discover the value of Azure for education through the OCRE framework to benefits from discounted cloud services. We’ll give you a deep dive into the OCRE framework and discuss the many ways Phoenix will support your school, college, university, or research institution on its journey to the cloud.
Agenda:
- Introduction to the sector
- Overview of the OCRE framework
- The opportunity and our services
Why thousands of IT professionals and researchers are using Microsoft Azure for education
All cloud providers are not the same is something many educators and researchers using Microsoft Azure have discovered.
In education and research, Azure is already known as a reliable, agile, high performing and trusted platform that is helping students, faculty, and researchers unlock their full potential. Offering institutions a rich toolset with governance, security, cost recovery, monitoring and reporting solutions.
Research and education institutions are modernising online services by adding human-like intelligence to any application or process. They’re reaching stakeholders and providing customer service in new ways with automated service agents. Plus, using data models, universities are gaining insight into student performance and empowering direct learning.
Students, faculty, and IT are more productive on and off campus using Azure, with everything from Azure Notebooks to task automation and virtually infinite compute power to accelerate discovery.
Azure is the only cloud service that enables you to operate on-premises and in the cloud simultaneously, allowing R&E institutions to augment on-premises investments with cloud services. Azure users are also able to adopt cloud technology at their own pace, deciding what data, workloads, and services to migrate.
Eliminate shadow IT and have the tools in place to govern your data, while also enabling stakeholders to operate autonomously. Azure is trusted by 90% of Fortune 500 companies. It offers institutions a rich toolset with governance, security, cost recovery, monitoring, and reporting solutions.
Why Phoenix?
With a 30-year history, Phoenix works strategically with Microsoft at both a UK and global level enabling us to provide the best solutions and outcomes for you – our customers and the staff, students, and communities that you serve.
As an Azure Expert MSP and a Solutions Partner for Microsoft Cloud, we have access to the latest Microsoft tools and technologies that enable us to develop innovative solutions for our customers.
These accreditations further validate Phoenix as one of the most recognised and accredited world-leading Microsoft partners with a focus on transforming organisations across the UK.
Our dedicated education team and Cloud Specialists support research and education organisations across the UK to understand the technical and licensing options available. We offer to fully scope our customers’ cloud requirements and provide all the support needed to develop, build, and deploy an efficient and secure cloud infrastructure for you.
Our Microsoft accreditations
OCRE Framework for Microsoft Azure FAQs
The main objective of the OCRE Framework for Microsoft Azure is to help with the acceleration of cloud adoption in education and research institutions.
The framework is available to higher education institutions, further education colleges, and research council establishments. Additionally, it can be utilised by other organisations, such as local authorities and institutions that are members of higher and further education purchasing consortia. To find out whether your organisation qualifies for the OCRE Framework, get in touch with our specialists.
There’s a variety of discounts available for OCRE customers on eligible services. Please contact our specialists at [email protected] to find out more.
Discover the benefits of the OCRE framework for Microsoft Azure
Our OCRE framework workshop enables your organisation to get a completely tailored overview of the framework as a whole and how it’s able to benefit your institution. Ask personalised questions to our OCRE Specialists and find out how to join the framework and how Phoenix is able to support you on your journey to the cloud.
You can also email us at [email protected] or call 01904 562200 – whatever works best for you.