University of Bern
Dokumentationen
  1. Dokumentationen
  2. Cloud
  3. Azure

Dokumentationen

Azure

Microsoft Azure is Microsoft's public cloud platform and offers a broad range of services – from virtual machines, storage and networking to databases, container and application services as well as AI, data and analytics services. The University of Bern uses Azure under a framework agreement concluded with Microsoft, through which all subscriptions are billed centrally and the University of Bern benefits from preferential terms.

Procurement and Subscriptions

Organisational units obtain Azure exclusively via IT Services in the form of dedicated subscriptions. A dedicated subscription is set up per organisational unit or per project and is integrated into the tenant and management group structure of the University of Bern.

  • Subscription is ordered through IT Services (Cloud Team); Order Form
  • Owner permissions are granted exclusively to the IT-responsible person of the organisational unit
  • Within the subscription, the organisational unit manages further permissions and resources independently
  • Billing is performed monthly based on actual consumption to the cost centre of the organisational unit

Available Services

Within a subscription, in principle all Azure services are available which are compatible with the governance and security requirements of the University of Bern. Typical use cases:

Networking and Identity

The integration with the University of Bern is provided through the network and identity structures supplied by IT Services:

  • Network connectivity to the internal network of the University of Bern (e.g. via hub-and-spoke topology and secured connectivity)
  • Identity integration via the central Microsoft Entra ID tenant of the University of Bern

Pricing and Billing

  • Billing is performed monthly based on actual consumption in CHF
  • Discounts from the framework agreement are taken into account automatically
  • Cost transparency is available via the Azure Portal as well as central reporting from IT Services
  • Often the cheaper pricing tier, e.g. Standard, is already sufficient for the respective use case. An upgrade is possible later.
  • Some services offer Azure Reservations, which can significantly reduce costs, e.g. >50% for a Linux-based VM.
  • To better calculate the price, Azure provides a pricing calculator.

Governance, Security and ISDS

Binding governance, security and ISDS requirements apply to all Azure subscriptions of the University of Bern:

  • Predefined Azure Policies (e.g. region, permitted services)
  • Central security monitoring of the subscriptions
  • Requirements regarding classification and handling of particularly sensitive personal data
  • Documentation obligation for the workloads used according to an ISDS concept to be created where required

Consulting and Enablement

IT Services advise the organisational units on the setup, operation and further development of their Azure environments. However, the operation of the workloads remains the responsibility of the organisational unit (see scope delineation in the service description).