Health expands cloud footprint with $32m Azure deal

The Department of Health, Disability and Ageing is scaling up its cloud capabilities with a $32 million contract for Microsoft Azure services.

The three-year deal was signed via the federal government’s volume sourcing arrangement with Microsoft and through partner Data#3.

It is structured as a Microsoft Azure Consumption Commitment (MACC), a vendor-specific agreement to spend a set amount on Azure licences over time exclusively within Microsoft’s ecosystem.

The department’s previous large-scale Microsoft agreement was an agency enterprise enrollment, valued at $15.4 million over three years, which expired on June 30.

When contacted by iTnews, the department declined to provide further contract details but said in a statement: “The contract is to support departmental requirements related to Azure cloud computing and associated services.”

The department began building its Azure capabilities in 2018 by onboarding a cloud-based Dynamics 365 solution for case management.

In 2022, it signed a $1.3 million contract to rebuild the National Diabetes Services Scheme (NDSS) on Azure, using Dynamics 365 alongside Azure Active Directory.

Health also maintains a cloud arrangement with AWS, recently renewing its agreement for another three years at a value of $22.9 million.

Additionally, the department is establishing an enterprise data and analytics platform, with Google Cloud’s BigQuery service forming a core part of the architecture.