OCRE 2024 Cloud Framework
Framework Description
OCRE 2024 is the successor to the original OCRE cloud framework. It is run by GÉANT, with Jisc brokering access for UK institutions. Launched on 3 February 2025 for a five-year term, it ends on 2 February 2030. It gives UK research and education institutions a single compliant route to cloud services, split into three lots: IaaS, PaaS and SaaS.
Context & Use Case
Universities, further education providers and research organisations use OCRE 2024 to buy cloud from 17 suppliers across 10 platforms, including AWS, Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud, plus specialist cloud services and migration consultancy. Institutions on the earlier OCRE agreements can move across when their call-off ends, or earlier by agreement with their supplier. It suits research computing, hosting and SaaS adoption.
Scope of Services
Lot: Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) Lot: Platform as a Service (PaaS) Lot: Software as a Service (SaaS) Hyperscaler resale (AWS, Azure, Google Cloud) Cloud consultancy and migration
Lots
IaaS; PaaS; SaaS
Who Can Apply
Cloud providers and resellers that met OCRE 2024's technical and commercial requirements in the original tender. Applications for this framework are closed, so new providers cannot join until it is replaced, likely around 2 February 2030. Appointed UK resellers compete for institutions' cloud spend through Jisc.
Buyer Benefits
Institutions avoid running their own cloud tenders and get terms negotiated across the European research and education community, including pricing and data protection terms suited to the sector. Access to all three major hyperscalers through one framework lets them use more than one cloud provider without a separate procurement for each.
Next Steps
Appointed resellers and providers should work with Jisc's cloud services team to reach institutions as their cloud contracts come up. Others should prepare for the successor framework: the current term ends on 2 February 2030, so a replacement procurement is likely during 2029. Build UK research and education case studies and data protection evidence now.
How Athena Can Help
Applications for OCRE 2024 are closed until its successor, so for most cloud providers Athena's focus is the next round. We can run an early Bid Health Check on your capability evidence and case studies, and give bid/no-bid input on which lot fits best. Appointed resellers can also use us to answer institutions' competitions with clear win themes.
In the meantime, our framework registration team can find UK public sector cloud routes that are open now and handle the applications.
