NEWSLETTER 6 JANUARY 2017

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Herbert Melton
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The consortium, partners and contractors have contributed to a productive year - paving the way for an impactful and sustainable Cloud for Europe.

1 NEWSLETTER 6 JANUARY 2017 Dear Reader, MESSAGE FROM THE COORDINATOR I m pleased to present you the new Cloud for Europe newsletter. Looking at the last year we are happy about the achievements and progress of the project. The consortium, partners and contractors have contributed to a productive year - paving the way for an impactful and sustainable Cloud for Europe. We have continued to disseminate the vision of Cloud for Europe and presented our activities at national and international events, for example the IRIS conference 2016 in Salzburg, the national EU conference in Portugal, a workshop in Bucharest about Governmental vs. institutional cloud, Executive Cloud Strategies 1 in Stockholm at September 7 and the EuroCloud Forum 2016, 5-6 October in Bucharest just to name a few. Phase I of our PCP project has been finalized in October Promising results are expected to follow soon. Phase II of the project has started in January To sharpen our approach and increase our visibility, we will have an open workshop with all contractors on March 29th 2017 in Rome. I wish you an exciting reading and valuable insights into what PCP can mean for your business and how Cloud for Europe delivers to the European ecosystem. 1

2 CURRENT STATUS OF THE CLOUD FOR EUROPE PROJECT During the evaluation of the offers received for Phase 1, several problems emerged which caused considerable delays in the procedure. The main issues discussed by the Procurers in the transition from Phase 1 to Phase 2 were related to the verification of results and the drafting of the Invitation Letter for Phase 2. In the following months when Phase 1 actually began, the Cloud for Europe Procurers have not had any additional problems. Currently, Phase 1 has finished and the Phase will start SUCCESSFUL CLOUD FOR EUROPE PCP TENDER: STRONG INTEREST AMONG SME S The Cloud for Europe PCP tender met strong international interest. 29 economic operators from 11 countries submitted bids to the tender. 24 bids were received, of which finally 12 got through the process of technical and financial evaluation. The participation rate of 45 % SMEs, 24 % Large Companies and 31 % Public Research Bodies show that SMEs are highly interested to become a solution provider for the public sector and give evidence that PCP increases both the participation of SMEs to the tender procedure and the awarding of actual contracts to SMEs. CLOUD FOR EUROPE PCP TENDER RESULTS ANNOUNCMENT CEREMONY & DESIGN PHASE KICK OFF On the 2 nd November 2016, the awards ceremony for the successful bidders of the Helix Nebula Science Cloud tender took place in Lyon, France.

3 A total of 28 multinational companies, SMEs and public research organisations from 12 countries submitted bids during the summer. The 4 selected consortia were announced at the event where they presented their visions for the hybrid cloud platform. Contractor 1: T-systems, Huawei, Cyfronet, Divia Contractor 2: IBM Contractor 3: RHEA Group, T-Systems, exoscale, SixSq Contractor 4: Indra, HPE, Advania, SixSq To find out more about the winning bidders, click here This event marked the conclusion of the preliminary phase of the pre-commercial procurement and was the occasion to kick off the design phase of the Pre-Commercial Procurement that will see the four winners compete to go through to the prototyping phase. Read more about the event at

FP7-610650 Cloud for Europe CLOUD FOR EUROPE WON AN INNOVATION-AWARD The Cloud for Europe project has been awarded with the National Award for Innovation

The project received the award on the 20th September 2016 in Rome in the presence of the President of the Italian Republic Sergio Mattarella, the Minister

4 FP Cloud for Europe CLOUD FOR EUROPE WON AN INNOVATION-AWARD The Cloud for Europe project has been awarded with the National Award for Innovation 2016 of Italy. The project received the award on the 20th September 2016 in Rome in the presence of the President of the Italian Republic Sergio Mattarella, the Minister of Education, University and Research Stefania Gianny, the Minister for Public Administration Marianna Madia and the President of the Cotec-Foundation Luigi Nicolai. The award emphasizes the projects important contribution to pre-commercial procurement as an instrument for public sector innovation.

5 ON PRE-COMMERCIAL PROCUREMENT AND THE CLOUD FOR EUROPE PROJECT The Cloud for Europe project uses joint pre-commercial procurement to find innovative cloud services that best fit the common requirements of the European public sector. Pre-commercial procurement is a mechanism that allows public procurers and private sector organisations to work together and jointly explore innovative solutions. It involves sharing the risks and benefits of developing new products and services until the point of their commercial take-up. Pre-commercial procurement within Cloud for Europe is divided into three stages. Phase 1 is solution exploration, which includes an analysis of requirements, a proposal for a solution space in terms of architecture, and first high-level design for open, interoperable cloud services. The results will be evaluated by the consortium and successful projects will enter phase 2, which is about specification and prototype implementation, with an aim to demonstrate the feasibility of the proposed solution. Successfully evaluated projects will continue to phase 3, which will demonstrate the solutions in a test environment, evaluated against performance and interoperability criteria. Characteristics of Pre-Commercial Procurement by Cloud for Europe With PCP small and medium enterprises (SMEs) get a fair chance to provide services to the public sector, while the public sector can reduce the perceived risks to buy from SMEs. The characteristics of PCP are: - R&D services - Framework contract - Demand side driven approach (needs and requirements are defined exclusively by the procurer) - Development in phases - Multiple and competing companies along the whole path of the PCP - Pool of at least two participating companies until the last phase to ensure a competitive market. - Contractual arrangements, rights and obligations of the parties (including IPRs), are decided upfront and made available to all interested bidders in advance.

6 - PCP enables procurers to lower the risk of large deployment contracts - by first comparing the pros and cons of competing solution approaches from different suppliers before fixing the requirements/tender specs for deployment, - by splitting the R&D in phases with evaluations after each PCP phase that stops further investment in non-viable solutions, - by sharing the benefits/risks of commercialization/iprs with the suppliers, and - by encouraging the development of open interoperable solutions. - From the SMEs point of view Pre-Commercial Procurement increases both the involvement in the tender procedure and the chances of winning contracts. For more information on Cloud for Europe activities, please visit FOUR TIPS FOR YOUR OWN PRE-COMMERCIAL PROCUREMENT (PCP) If you want your own Pre-Commercial Procurement, we have collected 4 valuable tips for the different stakeholders. 1. Communicate. The necessary steps of a Pre-Commercial Procurement (PCP) procedure are not self-explaining and clear to everyone. A continuing and early started exchange with and feedback to the contractors throughout the procedure is necessary for mutual understanding of all sides involved. 2. Set up a knowledge archive. Contractors have many questions. Questions and answers should be collected in a FAQ and shared with the contractors for more transparency. 3. Be patient and be flexible towards procurers. From the procurer s point of view, the PCP process is complex and time consuming: It takes time to understand what joint PCP is. It takes time to understand the difference of PCP compared to commercial procurement. Legal aspects need time procurer s agreement, tender documentation. Bidding companies need time to understand what PCP is.

7 As the lead procurer is the legal entity, it has to follow national legislation. Recommendation: To get a solution be flexible and do not stick to a rigid interpretation of the tender regulation clauses. 4. Be patient and be flexible towards vendors. From the vendor s point of view, the PCP process is complex and time consuming, too. Legal departments of industry bidders need to understand the difference compared to traditional procurement even though the process follows the national procurement regulation. The risk sharing of IPRs is difficult to agree, especially for large companies. Recommendation: Teach industry (legal departments) to better understand the PCB process. UPCOMING CLOUD EVENTS Cloud for Europe is organising a workshop for the contractors where they are initiated to present their intermediate results in phase II at 29 th of March The event will be taking place in Rome and registration will be opened soon! STAKEHOLDER MAILING LIST To receive Cloud for Europe news and event invitations, subscribe to our stakeholder mailing list at Join the discussions on LinkedIn and for more frequent project updates, on Twitter. CONTACT US For more information on the project as well as any questions and suggestions, please contact us at info@cloudforeurope.eu.

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