Hosting Services enables B.C. government and broader public sector (BPS) to access sustainable hosting infrastructure and services, through the Strategic Transformation and Mainframe Services (STMS) Agreement with ESIT Advanced Solutions, Inc. (ESIT), to support the evolving needs of government clients and citizens.
We are comprised of two separate branches – the Hosting Administrator’s Office (responsible for on-boarding of new entities or services, and deal management), and Hosting Delivery (responsible for ensuring the delivery of the services to ministries).
The Hosting Services AO, provides strategic contract oversight for the STMS Hosting Services Agreement. The Hosting Services AO is responsible for deal governance structures, contract performance, obligations management, contract management, deal negotiation activities, deal expansion and on-boarding opportunities for B.C. government and BPS clients. The office is the primary liaison between government, BPS clients and the outsourced service provider with respect to strategic relationship management, better planning for technology investments, streamlined processes, ensuring on-going contract benefit realization, continuity through stabilized contract management and overall performance.
Hosting Delivery provides a standardized set of IT infrastructure and related support for applications running on Mainframe (z/OS), UNIX/Linux and Windows platforms.
Hosting Delivery focuses on providing complete service packages rather than acting as a hardware provider. Service packages are provided based on selected criteria to meet client business application requirements.
All Hosting Delivery services include infrastructure management, support and security services. Detailed information about Hosting Services can be found on the OCIO Client Resource Centre.
The Service Desk is available 24x7, including holidays, to provide first-level support, including call tracking and quick problem resolution. All other calls are assigned a priority level and queued for appropriate technical support during regular business hours.
You can also find support information for each service under the 'Hours of Support' page for each service on the Client Resource Centre.
You can find prerequisites and ordering forms on the 'How to Order' page for each service on the Client Resource Centre.
For iStore ordering support, please reference our How to Order page.
For Ministry orders, see iStore Quick Reference Guide Hosting Services section as well as any subsequent iStore requirements that need to be ordered for other services.
We have a team of qualified information technology (IT) professionals who are available to meet with you to support either one-time or ongoing requirements. Our consulting team may serve in the capacity of a technical consultant, project manager, or a specialized IT professional, depending on your needs.
Consulting Services Examples:
- Voice Network Services
- Data Network Services
- Workstation Services
- Identity Management
- Messaging and Collaboration
- Mainframe Services
- Application Hosting Service for UNIX/Linux or Windows
- Vulnerability Scanning
See more information on the Client Resource Centre.
Includes licensing of the operating system (for UNIX, Linux or Windows) and the Office of the Chief Information Officer (OCIO) standard systems management software.
As clients’ application needs change over time, the OCIO will monitor and analyze the virtual image performance on a quarterly basis and adjust the resources as needed (RAM and CPU via the VM Right Sizing and Change Management process) which ensures the client’s virtual image is operating at its optimal performance.
See more information on the Client Resource Centre.
Available in various sizes (small, medium or large) and in various locations. The choice of server location includes identifying a Tier level which will determine the service level applicable to the server:
- Tier 1 indicates a cluster with two or more servers in a data centre location with 7 x 24 support
- Tier 2 indicates a single server in a STMS data centre location
- Tier 3 indicates a server in a non-data centre (remote) location
See more information on the Client Resource Centre.
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Production servers:
- Application server – to run client business applications
- Database server – to support database engines such as Oracle or MS SQL Server
- Web server – to run web applications
- Citrix server – to publish business applications using Citrix XenApp software
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Development/Test servers:
- Used solely for developing and testing purposes (any of the production servers referred to above may have an associated development/test server)
See more information on the Client Resource Centre.
A complete list of Application Hosting Server Configurations is available on the OCIO Service Catalog site found here.
You are advised to review the configuration list, and to document your business requirements, prior to ordering.
The OCIO’s storage infrastructure offers redundancy, configuration flexibility, support services and management software capabilities for supporting different data types, applications and processing platforms.
See more information on the Client Resource Centre.
Data Backup Services protect your data by ensuring it is backed up (copied), stored and available for restoration if the originals cannot be accessed due to a failure. These services are distinct from the backup and restore features built into some other services such as Messaging.
See more information on the Client Resource Centre.
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- Global Server Load Balancing (GSLB) provides highly available load balanced services between multiple data centres.
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- As part of the design of the network infrastructure located in the STMS Data Centres, a load balancing service is available to provide a variety of network load balancing functions to Client Ministries.
- EQ Fabric and Multi Cloud Connectivity
- Data centre Networks
- Public Cloud & SaaS Connectivity
Application Hosting Services for Linux, UNIX, and Windows platforms, provide highly secure, available and reliable operating system OCIO (Office of the Chief Information Officer) approved images, on industry proven virtual and dedicated servers, upon which you can build and run business applications.
We will work closely with you on a predefined set of services to create a stable operating environment including secure data centre floor space, power, cooling and environmental controls, network connection, infrastructure operations and management, installation, and systems management for operating systems, and underlying hardware.
See more information on the Client Resource Centre.
- 3PG Service:
- This service allows you to request a connection to the SPAN/BC Network for a private-sector (third party) service provider requiring a connection to your applications.
The Firewall Service is comprised of one or more firewall installations providing additional protection to applications and servers from unauthorized network traffic.
- SDN Services:
- The Software Defined Network currently enables four self-service capabilities that were developed to increase business agility for our clients for their virtual machine and containerized workloads.
Manages government’s office printing and imaging environment; providing networked printing, copying, scanning and faxing functionality across government. The equipment and associated support services are provided by the vendor via a “cost per printing” utility model. Devices and their accessories are not owned by the Province.
Note: This service is mandatory for ministry clients but is currently unavailable for BPS clients.
See more information on the Client Resource Centre.
Virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) refers to the use of virtual machines to provide and manage virtual desktops.
See more information here.
The BC Secure Access Gateway (SAG), allows users to connect to a virtual desktop.
See more information here.
The Secure File Transfer Service is a secure web-based service that provides an easy-to-use, secure means to exchange files between ministries, with trusted external partners and organizations, and with the general BC public within SPAN/BC and the Internet. It is located in the Province’s Interior Data Centre and is placed on the logical boundary between the Province’s SPAN/BC network and the public Internet.
See more information on the Client Resource Centre.
The Shared File and Print (SFP) Service provides customers with a place to store office productivity data files, a method to print them, and daily backup of data files and folders.
The service includes file, print and backup server infrastructure, support, and management for the storage and printing of customer data. A base allocation of Shared File server storage is provided for the use of client’s home drives and group shares. Data access control and security are also provided.
Customers subscribing to Workstation Services are provided with Local Area Network (LAN) administration of their access to shared network folders and printers. Broader Public Sector (BPS) clients may choose to subscribe to Workstation Services or provide their own LAN administration.
All Ministry clients use Managed Print Service (MPS) for printing however BPS clients will continue to use existing Shared Print Service.
Service options are available at additional cost for incremental storage beyond the base allocation, for dedicated servers and enhanced auditing.
See more information on the Client Resource Centre.
You can find billing information on the 'Rates' page for each service on the Client Resource Centre.