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CLIENT:
Malta Information Technology Agency (MITA)
OBJECT:
Digital Transformation through the power of Hybrid Cloud solution enabling Infrastructure and Services
YEAR:
2020

Brief Description of the Project

In 2018, a major digital transformation success was achieved by Space Hellas in the Maltese market by claiming and successfully delivering a Hybrid Cloud Solution based on Microsoft’s Azure & Azure Stack Hub to MITA, an agency responsible for the implementation of digital strategy of the government of Malta. Space Hellas won the project as part of a consortium named 18Squared together with ICT Solutions and Microsoft Consulting Services as subcontractor integrating in their solution a number of cutting-edge technologies from vendors like Microsoft (Microsoft Azure, Azure Stack Hub), Cisco (Azure Stack Hub Hardware – 5 scale units), Veeam (Backup) and Exivity (Billing). The total value of the contract was 13M€ and included the procurement of five scale units, implementation and operation services as well as CSP Azure Subscription services for 7 years.

In December 2018, the successful delivery of the first scale unit and delivery of the related implementation services was a major technological breakthrough and reference point since it was the first state-level project worldwide to use hybrid cloud computing technology in Government sector based on Azure Stack and the CSP subscription model to enable a player such as MITA to offer upgraded self-service capabilities to its clients, Ministries and Government Agencies, to implement and host innovative services for digital government (G2G, G2B, G2C). These services use attractive Pay-Per-Use Billing models, adopt new application development models and practices moving away from monolithic traditional to cloud architectures like Microservices, Containers and Serverless computing.

The project already provided the necessary toolbox for MITA to accelerate the introduction of DevOps practices and greater collaboration for the benefit of its clients. It was part of a larger project called CONvErGE that implements the Digital Strategy of Malta including a number of vertical e-services in sectors like Health, Finance, Education etc. The plan was to host all these e-services in this common Hybrid Enabling Infrastructure. Space Hellas and ICT Solution operated the hybrid system for the first year on behalf of MITA and Space Hellas provides the Azure CSP subscription services as a CSP Tier 1 partner of Microsoft for seven years, an estimated value of 9Μ€. In Sep 2019 MITA ordered two additional scale units and two more are expected to be deployed by the end of 2020. The solution implemented in this project has been registered and approved as a Microsoft co-sell solution, the largest in terms of value in the region.

https://customers.microsoft.com/en-us/story/734233-government-in-malta-government-azure

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UqHZt-ZHUBc

https://video.cisco.com/detail/video/6044080006001/digital-transformation-through-the-power-of-microsoft-azure-stack-and-cisco-ucs:-a-public-sector-view

The project individual objects are the following

  • Hyper-converged infrastructure

    Cisco's hyper-converged scale node infrastructure delivering a Microsoft Azure Stack solution. The infrastructure is based on Microsoft's recommended design and offers reduced footprint and redundant infrastructure.  Additional protection provided through Cisco's Veeam Backup Appliance supporting native integration with the EMC Data Domain.

  • Management & DevOps

    Management and DevOps support for the HCI and Hybrid Cloud environment enabled through management, monitoring, deployment and API functionality provided throughout the infrastructure and integrated through DevOps lifecycle tool support.

  • Security & Controls

    Solution architecture to encompass all system areas of security, such as role-based access control, hardware-based security & security by design.

  • Project Management

    Project implementation delivered by 18Squared consortium together with Microsoft Consultancy Services.

  • Software Services

    A Microsoft integrated hybrid cloud solution based on On-Premises Azure Stack Hub and Public Azure Cloud Platform services.

  • Operational and Support Services

    Operation and Consultancy Services in conjunction with Microsoft Premier support covered by the solution management tools to provide 24x7 availability.

  • Billing & usage metering

    Consolidated billing and cost analysis platform through the Exivity Billing and Reporting solution, addressing the requirements of both Brokers and Consumers.

  • Cloud Service Provisioning

    Space Hellas, as a member of the 18Squared consortium, is the Cloud Services Provider (CSP) on behalf of Microsoft for all the Azure subscription components and consumption required for the MITA project.

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