Singapore’s Government Cloud in 5 minutes

GCC, GPC, CSP, and CMP

This post is adapted from this:
Singapore’s Government Cloud in 5 minutes
All credits go to the original author!

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When entering Singapore’s government cloud environment, you’ll encounter a sea of acronyms. Here are some key ones: GCC, GPC, CSP, and CMP.

We’re familiar with commercial cloud providers like AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud. So why not simply use these?

Government Private Cloud (GPC)

The GPC is a private cloud infrastructure built exclusively for government use. It’s similar to AWS, Azure, or GCP but designed with government-specific services and restricted access.

However, GPC services may be more limited compared to the wide range of services provided by AWS, Azure, and Google. This is where GCC comes in.

Government on Commercial Cloud 2.0 (GCC 2.0)

The purpose of GCC is to allow agencies to leverage services from commercial cloud providers (AWS, Azure, GCP) while adhering to governance and security policies. Think of GCC as a hybrid model, bridging government and commercial cloud services.

You can find more details in the fact sheet here.

Cloud Service Providers (CSPs)

AWS, Azure, and GCP are collectively known as Cloud Service Providers, or CSPs.

Cloud Management Portal (CMP)

The CMP is the web interface provided by GCC for accessing services and making configurations. It’s the equivalent of Azure’s portal or AWS’s management console. CMP serves as a dashboard for viewing billing and other details and acts as a gateway to CSP services. For example, if an agency uses AWS, Azure, and GCP, CMP enables centralized access to logs from each platform.

Agencies

Agencies are the organizations using GovTech’s cloud services, typically Singapore government entities such as the Ministry of Education. Agencies are also referred to as tenants.

Agency Facilities Management (AFM)

From the agency’s perspective, AFMs are vendors or contractors—like NEC, NCS, or PCCW—who provide on-premise patching and maintenance.

Agency Tenant Facilities Management (TFM/ATFM)

TFM or ATFM handles cloud-related technical tasks for the agency, often provided by the same vendors (NEC, NCS, PCCW).

Compartments

Compartments in GCC are equivalent to AWS’s VPC, Azure’s VNET, and GCP’s virtual private cloud.