Megaport and ADC deliver Oracle Aus-Gov Cloud region

Megaport and Australian Data Centres (ADC) have partnered to deliver Oracle’s cloud region for the Australian federal government. 

Known as Aus-Gov Cloud, the region will serve the Australian federal government and the Department of Defence in Canberra leveraging Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI)

By collaborating, Oracle, ADC and Megaport aim to provide “all levels of government” with access to a hyperscale cloud exclusively for federal workloads. 

Announced last year, Aus-Gov Cloud combines ADC’s physical connectivity with Megaport’s point of presence (PoP) and Oracle’s FastConnect infrastructure. 

Offering over 100 Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) services, the region is a “highly secure hyperscale cloud platform” that will only be used by public sector organisations and their partners, according to the vendor. The region is also physically isolated from Oracle’s other public and government cloud regions, with no backbone connections shared.

ADC “made substantial investments” to facilitate the infrastructure and operational capabilities and to “provide assurance” that federal government customers would have ready access to connect to secure networks via the Intra-government Communications Network (ICON). 

“The August 2023 announcement of Oracle Cloud for [the] Australian government and Defence was a game-changer for public sector cloud adoption,” said Michael Reid, CEO of Megaport.

“Since that announcement, Megaport has been engaging with multiple federal government agencies to securely, efficiently and rapidly connect Aus-Gov networks. As a proudly Australian born and bred company, we’re delighted to be able to help all levels of government deliver private, high-speed, network connectivity solutions in an instant that not only provide greater budget efficiency but also support these departments and agencies in delivering customer services that delight all Australians.” 

Aus-Gov Cloud offers a sovereign and segregated OCI region designed specifically for Australian government entities, aiming to ensure compliance and security standards are met. 

Sovereign-owned and controlled ADC is now tasked with hosting this sensitive government data. Meanwhile, Megaport has offered its dark fibre PoP directly within ADC’s ‘meet me rooms’, which accredited spaces constructed to government standards. 

Through this, the duo provides dedicated private connectivity via OCI FastConnect between Aus-Gov and OCI Commercial regions. According to Oracle, Megaport’s service marks the first instance of FastConnect provision in OCI’s new Australian government region, “further enhancing connectivity options for Australian government entities”. 

Megaport began its cloud connectivity collaboration with Oracle in April 2017, initially connecting to the FastConnect network through Equinix’s data centre infrastructure in Sydney.

“This partnership is critical to the success of Aus-Gov Cloud because secure, fast and reliable connectivity is the core requirement for the Australian government’s full realisation of hyperscale cloud capability,” said Dana Spasenoska, head of federal government of Oracle Cloud, Australia. 

Rob Kelly, managing director of ADC, added that the partnership would bring “hyperscale cloud and connectivity to the broader cloud ecosystem enabling the best of breed efficiencies provided by a practical multi-cloud strategy”.