Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY)
MeitY overview
The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), an agency of the government of India, provides policy guidelines to all government and state public sector organizations. Its guidelines are also frequently adopted by private sector organizations in regulated industries, like financial services and telecommunications.
MeitY provides accreditation (referred to by MeitY as 'empanelment') of cloud service providers, which requires that cloud services be certified as compliant against a predefined set of standards and guidelines on security, interoperability, data portability, service level agreement, and contractual terms and conditions. Auditors accredited by MeitY verify compliance by conducting audits of cloud service providers.
Once accredited, cloud service providers are listed in a government cloud services directory where public sector organizations can compare and procure accredited cloud services. The directory is a service of the MeghRaj Cloud Initiative (or GI [Government of India] Cloud), which promotes the use of cloud computing in government, and governs the implementation of public sector IT services.
Microsoft and Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY)
In November 2017, Microsoft became one of the first global cloud service providers to achieve full accreditation by MeitY for its three cloud models:
- Public Cloud, for shared, multi-tenant public cloud services
- Government Virtual Private Cloud, which must be logically separate from the public and other offerings of the cloud service provider
The MeitY accreditation of Microsoft was the result of a rigorous audit conducted by the Standardization Testing and Quality Certification (STQC) Directorate, a government organization that provides quality assurance services, using an evaluation framework based on the work of the MeghRaj Cloud Initiative. Through Microsoft Azure, public sector organizations can now draw on a wide range of deployment models and service offerings, including infrastructure as a service (IaaS), platform as a service (PaaS), disaster recovery, DevOps, and managed backup.
Microsoft in-scope cloud platforms & services
Audits, reports, and certificates
- Microsoft Cloud accreditation under Audit Status of Cloud Service Providers
Frequently asked questions
Why is MeitY important?
Making government services available to citizens online is a key part of the Digital India program, which aims to 'transform India into a digitally empowered society and knowledge economy.' MeitY lists accredited cloud service providers in the government cloud services directory, which enables public sector organizations to compare and procure those services.