OCRE: A framework for research – and faster way forward.
OCRE enables education and research institutions across Europe to deploy cloud services from select commercial providers quickly and with minimal complexity. The framework agreement between the European Union and the pan‑European research network GÉANT is designed to make cloud services available where they are needed – without requiring new, time‑consuming procurement procedures each time. Today, OCRE supports more than 1,000 institutions in 39 countries in rolling out cloud solutions more easily.
For RWTH Aachen, one of Europe’s leading technical universities, this model offered particular strategic value as it set out to expand its use of cloud services, while ensuring a secure and compliant basis for doing so. “It was important for us to be able to deploy cloud technologies quickly and without unnecessary complexity,” says Denise Dittrich, Deputy Head of Systems and Operations at RWTH Aachen’s IT Center. As part of a pilot phase, the university deployed cloud services for use cases such as training environments, development projects and AI‑driven applications.
Two clouds, one point of access – Why choice matters.
A key requirement for RWTH Aachen was the ability to use services from both cloud platforms – Microsoft Azure and IONOS Cloud – side by side while handling procurement and billing through a single channel. Both requirements could be met effectively via the OCRE framework agreement.
As part of the Europe‑wide OCRE tender, Bechtle was awarded the contract for two cloud providers for the second time in a row. This makes us the only partner delivering two cloud platforms in parallel across the 13 countries covered by the tender. For research and education institutions, this means greater flexibility and genuine choice – an important advantage in an environment where institutes and projects vary widely in scope, duration, budget and technical preferences.
From eight to up to 200 institutes – Scaling requires standards.
With the pilot project, RWTH Aachen set itself an ambitious goal: to grow the use of cloud solutions from an initial eight institutes to as many as 200. Supporting such a broad rollout and embedding cloud services beyond individual flagship projects requires clear and consistent structures – particularly for onboarding, service design and cost management.
Bechtle worked with RWTH Aachen’s IT Center to establish these foundations, including standardised onboarding paths, clearly defined service building blocks, and a transparent billing and controlling model with cost visibility down to each institute. “Institutes can start using the services straight away – and we know that delivery and billing work as intended,” Dittrich says.
A clear path to the cloud with OCRE and Bechtle.
RWTH Aachen’s experience shows how cloud services can be established in higher education quickly and at scale, while meeting regulatory requirements. The OCRE framework agreement significantly reduces procurement overhead and makes cloud services broadly usable as a strategic resource. At the same time, organisations benefit from choice, transparency and clear cost structures.
Bechtle supports customers across the full lifecycle – from integrating and operating the cloud platforms to delivering standardised services and managing billing. This opens up a wide range of use cases, from traditional development environments to AI services such as RWTHgpt. As an OCRE pilot institution, RWTH Aachen not only advances its own digital development, but also provides a case study of what the framework makes possible for other universities and research organisations across Germany and Europe.