Understanding costs of e-Infrastructures
A key element towards EGI sustainability
E-Infrastructures for scientific computing are recognised to have a strategic role in supporting innovation in Europe and improve competitiveness. Their importance for the next decade is also reinforced by the European strategic policies through the Digital Agenda for Europe.
In this context, EGI plays an important role and we are committed to develop the appropriate sustainability plan in order to maintain and evolve the infrastructure in line with EU strategic inputs and users feedback. One of the aspects that needs better understanding is the cost structure of the provided services as a key element to explore new business models. EGI is composed by pooled resources from different institutions that have been built independently from a combination of both national and European funding. Understanding the its cost is not a trivial task.
For this reason, EGI.eu joined a consortium of four organisations and submitted a project proposal called e-FISCAL to investigate the matter. The scope of the project is to analyse costs of the e-Infrastructure, compare them with equivalent commercial leased or on-demand offerings and provide an evaluation report.
The project officially started 1st August and the kick-off meeting was held in Athens (Greece) on 24-25 August. As a representative of EGI.eu, I attended the event, I contributed to a successful start of the activities and I also reported on the on-going activities to develop an EGI sustainability plan.
During the kick-off meeting, we also discussed and reviewed the draft questionnaire which goal is to collect cost information from the various resource infrastructure providers. The questions were analysed in order to find the right balance between obtaining cost details while limiting the effort of the partners in gathering the necessary data.
The draft questionnaire will be openly discussed at the e-FISCAL workshop, part of the next EGI Technical Forum. All NGIs/EIROs part of EGI as well as PRACE members will be invited to fill the questionnaire, therefore this is the chance for you to participate and contribute in capturing the right set of questions.
Improving the understanding of the cost for e-infrastructures will help also to demonstrate the cost-effectiveness vs. commercial offering of similar services and is an essential building block to explore new business models to improve their sustainability.
Do you have experience in analysing the cost of your resource centre and the associated services? If not, do you want to take part to the discussion to learn about it? Drop us a line to tell us about your experience or need. Together, we can achieve greater results.
In this context, EGI plays an important role and we are committed to develop the appropriate sustainability plan in order to maintain and evolve the infrastructure in line with EU strategic inputs and users feedback. One of the aspects that needs better understanding is the cost structure of the provided services as a key element to explore new business models. EGI is composed by pooled resources from different institutions that have been built independently from a combination of both national and European funding. Understanding the its cost is not a trivial task.
For this reason, EGI.eu joined a consortium of four organisations and submitted a project proposal called e-FISCAL to investigate the matter. The scope of the project is to analyse costs of the e-Infrastructure, compare them with equivalent commercial leased or on-demand offerings and provide an evaluation report.
The project officially started 1st August and the kick-off meeting was held in Athens (Greece) on 24-25 August. As a representative of EGI.eu, I attended the event, I contributed to a successful start of the activities and I also reported on the on-going activities to develop an EGI sustainability plan.
During the kick-off meeting, we also discussed and reviewed the draft questionnaire which goal is to collect cost information from the various resource infrastructure providers. The questions were analysed in order to find the right balance between obtaining cost details while limiting the effort of the partners in gathering the necessary data.
The draft questionnaire will be openly discussed at the e-FISCAL workshop, part of the next EGI Technical Forum. All NGIs/EIROs part of EGI as well as PRACE members will be invited to fill the questionnaire, therefore this is the chance for you to participate and contribute in capturing the right set of questions.
Improving the understanding of the cost for e-infrastructures will help also to demonstrate the cost-effectiveness vs. commercial offering of similar services and is an essential building block to explore new business models to improve their sustainability.
Do you have experience in analysing the cost of your resource centre and the associated services? If not, do you want to take part to the discussion to learn about it? Drop us a line to tell us about your experience or need. Together, we can achieve greater results.
