Overview

The Office of Information Technology (OIT) offers centrally-managed Cloud services through various vendors, including Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Microsoft Azure. University researchers, departments, and staff are encouraged to enroll in UMN Cloud Services in order to get the best price, the appropriate security, and to feel confident that projects are managed in an environment that is compliant with University policy. 

Highlights

Confidence in Your Selection

Our Cloud Services team can provide you with useful advice regarding which public cloud providers best meet your needs. Email the UMN Cloud Service team for a consultation. 

Legal Protection & Simplified Account Management 

  • UMN Negotiatied Contracts. The Office of Information Technology has negotiated service agreements with AWS and Microsoft Azure that have been reviewed by the Office of General Counsel.
  • UMN Account Management. Contracts simplify consumption tracking, pricing, and account management, and provide legal standing and protection for the University of Minnesota and the individuals using its services.

Reduced Costs

  • Data Egress Discounts. Cloud vendors provide up to a 15% waiver for data egress fees for qualified researchers and academic customers. Data egress fees are associated with data transfer out of a Cloud storage service to the internet. 
  • Volume Discounts. When you enroll in the UMN Cloud service, you will receive volume discount pricing. As more UMN departments enroll, we anticipate better discounts. This discount only applies to accounts under the UMN Cloud Service. All consumption fees are lumped together, lowering the cost for everyone the more any particular service is used.
  • Reduce Administrative Effort. When you use UMN Cloud Services, the billing is handled by the Office of Information Technology using Enterprise Finance System (EFS) accounts. Eliminating the need to use a Procurement Card (PCard) and/or to request personal reimbursements.

Enhanced Security & Compliance

  • Account Activity Logging. Cloud Services will provide standard security logging for user and network account activity, as per University policy. Most logging is still available to the individual users outside of our University Logging service (Splunk).
  • Private Network. VPN IPSec tunnels are available as are dedicated connections via Internet2 (shared bandwidth).
  • Policy. UMN Cloud Service governance provides simple policy guardrails and monitoring, including audit configuration, billing/cost notifications, regional availability.
  • Authentication. Users will authenticate via federated single sign-on (SSO) with two-factor authentication through the University's central identity management system, providing consistency and security. 

Getting Started

The UMN Cloud Services team is ready to help! 

Please note: To provide the best customer experience, we require that departments enroll in Customer Experience Standardization for Infrastructure (CESI) to provide authorized requestors for cloud services. Unsure if your department is enrolled in CESI? See a list of CESI-enrolled departments.

To start using public cloud services facilitated and supported by the University of Minnesota:

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Intended Audience

Instructors
Researchers
Staff & Departments
Health Sciences Affiliates
IT Staff and Partners

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