Cloud Scorecard Directory FAQ

The growth of cloud services, particularly SaaS offerings, necessitate higher education to evaluate new ways to handle the review of services both at the time of implementation and on an ongoing basis. The Cloud Scorecard is designed to support these efforts while leveraging the scale of Internet2 membership in working together.

The design proposition behind the Cloud Scorecard is twofold: (1) detail a list of important standards in higher education for cloud services, and (2) provide a means to review services’ alignment with those standards. The Cloud Scorecard directory is launching as a pilot to begin the process of enabling service reviews. We anticipate building out additional features and functionality post-pilot based on user requests.

Yes, and we encourage R&E institutions to think about how to leverage the Cloud Scorecard as part of vendor review and procurement processes. Please email us at cloud-scorecard@internet2.edu for a blank copy of the Cloud Scorecard, and we encourage vendors to submit completed Cloud Scorecards to us to include in the Cloud Scorecard Directory (upon signature of the MOU).

While the Cloud Scorecard leverages the same standard we use for a NET+ service evaluation, Scorecard responses are self-reported by vendors and do not go through a peer evaluation process. NET+ service also include negotiated contracts and communities of practice.

Please contact the vendor at the email address provided on their Cloud Scorecard to request a change. Internet2 is not reviewing Cloud Scorecards for accuracy.

The purpose of the pilot is to start small and gather feature requests and use cases from users in order to build a web application to serve community needs if there is sustained interest.

The Cloud Scorecard pilot is funded by institutions who have subscribed to NET+ services and thereby provided financial support for community cloud service programs and efforts like this. As the pilot evolves, vendors will be required to pay a listing fee to be included in this directory to support the program.

The Cloud Scorecard includes citing a completed HECVAT. The Cloud Scorecard is intended to be a high level overview of how a service meets existing community standards. The HECVAT is a deep dive into specific requirements and controls in areas of importance to higher education – like security.

Please contact us at cloud-scorecard@internet2.edu and we will submit the question to the community working group for review.

Please contact us at cloud-scorecard@internet2.edu.

During the pilot period, Internet2 industry members, InCommon sponsored participants, NET+ service providers and candidate service providers, and other cloud service vendors.

Steps to complete a Cloud Scorecard:

1. Express interest: cloud-scorecard@internet2.edu
2. Sign MOU for pilot program
3. Review questionnaire and prepare responses
4. Establish dedicated email address to track inquiries
5. Submit responses to questionnaire
6. Review completed entry on wiki

• To demonstrate commitment to working with the higher ed and research community to meet common requirements to operate in their complex technology, security, compliance, and legal environments.
• To shorten the time to sale by having documentation prepared for RFP/RFI and procurement requirements.
• To build awareness in the community for evolving cloud solutions and help them find your service.

The Cloud Scorecard is available at no charge to Internet2 Industry Members (includes NET+ service providers), InCommon sponsored participants and early participants (prior to launch November 3, 2021). Other interested vendors will be required pay a one-time nominal project support fee that will increase after December 15, 2021.

Yes, Internet2 has Industry Membership, InCommon sponsored participants and NET+ Service Providers for active engagement with the higher research and education community.

There is not a limit provided that they are distinct cloud services, and if applicable, each one is paid for.

There are 39 questions and experience has been 1-3 hours depending on the organization.

For at least six months (until May 3, 2022) and up to one year (November 3, 2022).

Yes, provided that it is acknowledged that this work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial -ShareAlike 3.0 Unported.