Advanced Infrastructure Managed Services

Summary

Advanced Infrastructure Managed Services covers specialist management of critical infrastructure — servers, storage, virtualisation and data centre environments — backed by our operational engineers.

This service supports the technology layers beneath critical applications and user services. We help monitor, maintain and manage infrastructure across complex data centre and hybrid environments. Agree the boundary with your internal team and application providers before service commencement.

The commercial summaries below refer to the supplied General Terms v3.6. Confirm the version and applicable Schedules in your executed Service Agreement, Service Description, Service Order and variations; a specific engagement may differ.

Key facts

What is managed

The service covers specialist management of servers, storage, virtualisation and data centre environments. Our broader emPOWER Managed Services brochure describes lifecycle services, monitoring, capacity baselining and remote management tooling, including automated patching. Confirm which capabilities apply to your infrastructure engagement.

Where the boundary sits

Define responsibilities for each system and activity in the agreed scope:

Under v3.6 clause 3.18, customers manage anti-virus on the relevant equipment unless the Service Description assigns that responsibility to us. Backup commitments must be read across the Service Agreement: clause 3.14 addresses Schedule-defined backups, while clause 17.3 addresses backup to the extent set out in the Service Order. Where backups are not included, clause 3.15 requires customers to take regular complete backups and keep duplicate copies.

Scheduled maintenance, specifically

For emPOWER Managed Services, the v3.6 definition covers routine maintenance of Customer Managed Equipment recommended by its manufacturer or supplier. Clause 3.10 requires best efforts to carry it out within the Schedule’s times, or at other times with at least three Business Days’ prior notice, with minimum disruption to the customer’s business.

In an Emergency, the service may be unavailable. Clause 3.13 requires as much notice as practical and best efforts to restore services as soon as possible. The defined Emergency and Reasonable Excuse provisions govern the corresponding Service Level exclusion; confirm their application to the affected service.

The shared-infrastructure caveat

Where a service includes a shared blueAPACHE Environment, v3.6 clause 5.1 permits specified software updates and replacement of environment components with similar or superior components without prior customer consent. Software updates under that clause amend the Service Description accordingly. This shared-environment condition matters; it should not be inferred solely from a service name.

That is normal for shared platforms, but it is worth knowing if you have applications with strict certification requirements against specific hypervisor or firmware versions. Raise it during design rather than discovering it at an upgrade.

A documented platform example

HPE’s February 2021 emPOWER Cloud case study describes HPE GreenLake, HPE Synergy, HPE Primera and VMware virtualisation. It is a historical example of our private-cloud operations, not a guarantee that every managed customer environment uses those products today.

Discuss the proposed platform, engineering responsibilities and compatibility requirements for your engagement. If your requirements include a move to hosted infrastructure, consider emPOWER Cloud as a separately scoped option.

Reporting and governance

• Standard monthly reports on performance against key delivery metrics, within 5 Business Days of month end
• Formal service review every 6 months
• A named account team — Account Executive, Service Delivery Manager, Technical Account Manager and engineers
• Customer access to the same monitoring and management toolset we use

Integration with other emPOWER services

Depending on your requirements, an infrastructure engagement can be scoped alongside:

• Managed Service Bundles for the agreed support and operational service model.
• Field Services and Staff Augmentation for on-site work or additional technical resources.
• emPOWER Cloud for hosted infrastructure; confirm platform compatibility and migration requirements.
• Disaster Recovery as a Service for separately defined recovery objectives and responsibilities.
• Security and Exposure Management for the agreed security scope and handling of findings.

Related services are not automatically included. Record inclusions, integration work and responsibilities in the Service Order.

Typical engagement

Onboarding. Immediately following the Service Commencement Date, we run Transition In Services: a due diligence process to catalogue the servers, storage and virtualisation in scope, configuration of its monitoring platforms against that inventory, documentation on how to raise and track support requests, and an agreed reporting schedule. The customer's obligation during this period is to promptly supply access details — passwords, network and firewall information — and to review and approve transition documentation without delay; agree access and approval dates so that dependencies can be managed during transition.

Steady state. Confirm monitoring, capacity reporting, patching, account roles and review arrangements in the agreed scope. The broader managed-services brochure describes these operational capabilities; the v3.6 terms set the monthly reporting and six-monthly review provisions summarised above.

Term and exit. Under v3.6 clause 2.6, the default Minimum Service Period is 36 months, excluding Professional Services, unless the Service Description or Service Order states otherwise. Clause 2.8 defines Written Notice as an executed, authorised Service Order. Under clause 2.9, no such notice plus continued access or use after expiry triggers a three-month extension for all services on that agreement at then-current full list price, without Service Levels. Agree disengagement assistance, charges, data export and ongoing rights to documentation before exit; do not assume all transition work is free.

Defining the managed infrastructure estate

Specify the actual servers, storage, virtualisation and data-centre assets and versions, change authority and the boundary with application support. Record who accepts capacity risks and supplies replacement equipment or licences at end of support. Identify backup and recovery explicitly rather than inferring them from managed infrastructure. At handover, reconcile the asset list with the systems monitoring can actually see, so an inventory omission does not become a responsibility gap.

Which document defines the commitment

The published General Terms v3.6 give the Service Order precedence over the General Terms, followed by the Schedules and then the Acceptable Use Policy (clause 2.3). Record the agreed scope, exclusions and negotiated departures in that document set. Keep the versions supplied at signing with the executed order and signed variations. Two offers with the same service name can cover different systems, operating hours or responsibilities.

Evidence available during the engagement

The General Terms provide standard monthly performance reports within five Business Days of month end and a formal service review every six months. Performance Records must be kept through the term and for seven years afterwards. The customer audit provisions allow access to relevant Records, premises for audit purposes and personnel interviews, with five Business Days’ notice normally or one Business Day where a regulator requires the audit. This records obligation is not a seven-year backup-retention promise for customer workloads. Agree additional report formats and audit-cost arrangements before depending on them; the general audit clause does not clearly allocate every audit cost.

Responsibility across the delivery chain

The published terms allow us to subcontract all or part of the Service Agreement without customer consent or a notification requirement. Clause 27.5 nevertheless makes us liable for our subcontractors’ acts and omissions to the same extent as for our employees. This differs from a third-party supplier contracted directly by the customer. Identify which arrangement applies to each dependency in the design. Where supplier identity, delivery location or change notification matters, request a documented supplier list and put any agreed notification or approval requirement in the Service Order; the general clause does not supply that visibility automatically.

Continuity when an external event interrupts service

Clause 23 addresses force majeure separately from normal incident management. Performance is suspended to the extent a qualifying event causes delay or failure. The definition includes specified events outside reasonable control; it is not a blanket classification of every outage. If the delay exceeds 20 Business Days, the other party may terminate by written notice. The clause also requires payment for services to termination and the applicable Early Termination Payment. A continuity plan should cover operational recovery and the commercial consequences of prolonged interruption. Confirm the Schedule’s exit calculation rather than assuming an externally caused outage creates a cost-free exit.

How liability differs from service performance

Clause 19 separates performance obligations from financial liability. The general cap per claim is the greater of the fees paid in the preceding three months or $25,000, with exclusions and specific categories governed separately. Confidentiality, information security, privacy and the IP indemnity have a $1 million per-event and $2 million aggregate cap. Data-loss liability depends on whether we had, and breached, a contracted backup or disaster recovery obligation; the relevant measure is restoration cost to the applicable recovery point, not the value of every business consequence. Read these provisions alongside the negotiated Service Order and Schedule; an availability statement does not describe the liability regime.

What infrastructure do you manage?

Servers, storage, virtualisation and data centre environments. The wider managed-services brochure describes provisioning, maintenance and performance reporting; confirm the lifecycle activities included for each asset.

Does this include our applications?

Application management is listed within the wider managed services ecosystem, but the boundary between platform and application should be written into your Service Description explicitly.

Who patches the operating systems?

Our broader managed-services offering includes remote management and automated patching capabilities. Confirm the operating systems, patch responsibilities, change approvals and exclusions in your scope. Anti-virus responsibility follows the applicable Service Description and agreement.

How much notice do we get for maintenance?

Under v3.6 clause 3.10, we use best efforts to carry out maintenance within Schedule windows, or at other times with at least three Business Days’ prior notice, with minimum disruption. Emergency work carries as much notice as practical under clause 3.13; the defined Reasonable Excuse provisions govern affected Service Levels.

Is backup included?

Confirm backup obligations across the Service Order, Schedule and applicable agreement, including clauses 3.14 and 17.3 of v3.6. If backups are not included, clause 3.15 sets customer backup duties. Data-loss liability depends on the contracted obligation and the relevant liability provisions.

Can blueAPACHE change our platform without asking?

Where the service includes a shared blueAPACHE Environment, v3.6 clause 5.1 permits specified software updates and similar-or-superior component replacement without prior consent. Confirm the environment and applicable change provisions for your engagement.

Do you run this kind of infrastructure yourselves?

HPE’s February 2021 case study documents our emPOWER Cloud deployment using HPE GreenLake, Synergy, Primera and VMware. Confirm the current platform proposed for your services.

What reporting do we get?

Monthly performance reports within five Business Days of month end, a six-monthly service review, and access to the same monitoring toolset we use.

What is the contract term?

V3.6 provides a default 36-month Minimum Service Period excluding Professional Services, unless the Service Description or Service Order states otherwise. Its renewal provisions describe 36-month periods unless we advise otherwise; confirm your executed agreement and renewal notice.

What happens if we do not renew in time?

Continued use without Written Notice automatically extends the service three months at our then-current full list price, with Service Levels switched off for that period.

Can we exit before the 36 months are up?

Ask for the calculation method before signing.

What happens to our infrastructure data when we leave?

V3.6 clause 9.1 places responsibility on the customer to copy Customer Data before expiry or termination and addresses removal or deletion of Customer Software and Data from our environment. Agree any export or transition assistance, charges, retention requirements and surviving rights to documentation before exit. Clause 25.2 separately addresses return or destruction and legally required retention.

Where does the managed infrastructure physically sit?

Confirm the locations of the specific managed assets, hosting, backups and administrative access in your agreed design. Our cloud materials describe Australian hosting capabilities, but infrastructure management alone does not establish every workload’s location or security configuration.

Related

Managed Services · Managed Service Bundles · Field Services and Staff Augmentation · emPOWER Cloud · Cloud · Disaster Recovery as a Service · Connectivity · Glossary · Contact