Crown Hosting Data Centres delivers the UK Government’s aim for the Public Sector to put the Cloud first. It provides a framework from which it is easy to buy highly-efficient, data centre colocation and data hosting, on a flexible contract basis.

The Crown Hosting Data Centres framework is an agreement between the government and a supplier called Crown Hosting Data Centres Limited. Crown Hosting Data Centres Limited is a joint venture between the government and Ark Data Centres Limited. The framework provides public sector organisations with access to physical datacentre space.

The Crown Hosting Data Centres framework supplements the government’s Cloud First policy. Although Cloud First has helped the government move many applications to the cloud, some applications either can’t make the transition in the short term or are too expensive to switch. This cross-government framework ensures that these applications can continue to be hosted for as long as is necessary, cheaply and securely.