Frequently Asked Questions

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 concept behind the Cloud Scorecard is twofold: (1) to outline key standards for cloud services in higher education, and (2) to offer a framework for assessing how well services align with those standards. We plan to continue expanding its features and functionality based on user feedback and 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 help@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 Finder (upon signature of the Participation Agreement).

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 Cloud Scorecard is funded by institutions who have subscribed to NET+ services and thereby provided financial support for community cloud service programs and efforts like this. Vendors will be required to pay an annual fee to be included in this listing to support the program. Please refer to our fees page for further information.

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.

Questions were developed by the Cloud Scorecard Working Group, which included higher education community members, as part of their final report. These questions are intended to articulate a common set of important standards for cloud services in higher education.

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

Vendors that provide cloud services, including Internet2 industry members, InCommon sponsored participants, and NET+ service providers, are encouraged to Complete this process to request to participate.

Steps to complete a Cloud Scorecard:

1. Complete this process to submit a request to participate
2. Agree to the click through agreement terms
3. Review questionnaire and prepare responses
4. Submit responses to questionnaire
5. Review completed entry on the website 

Email your changes to cloud-scorecard@internet2.edu; a later release will allow you to make updates directly to the website at your convenience.

• 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) and InCommon sponsored participants. All other cloud vendors will pay $500 annually to participate. Please refer to our fees page for further information.

Yes, Internet2 has Industry Membership, InCommon sponsored participants and NET+ Service Providers that actively engage with the 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.

Yes, provided that it is acknowledged that this work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial -ShareAlike 3.0 Unported. We encourage participants to proactively provide their response to interested institutions to facilitate ease of procurement.