In this article

• What is the Google Cloud Platform?
• How do I get started using GCP at UMD?

What is the Google Cloud Platform?

Google Cloud Platform (GCP) is a suite of cloud computing services that runs on the same infrastructure that Google uses internally for its end-user products, such as Google Search, Gmail and YouTube. Alongside a set of management tools, it provides a series of modular cloud services for computing, data storage, data analytics and machine learning.

GCP will allow the University of Maryland (UMD) community the ability to utilize GCP for your teaching and learning and research related needs. Using GCP, researchers, faculty and staff will benefit from cost savings of at least 5 percent from Division of Information Technology's (DIT) Internet2 and Net+ agreement. The designing, building and managing of your GCP environment is the sole responsibility of the project owner.

If you are interested in using GCP, DIT's Advanced Technology and Innovation Research Computing team will work with you in procuring your environment. DIT has partnered with Burwood Group, Inc., a Google certified consulting company, to assist you in designing, building and implementing your project. DIT is working directly with Burwood to ensure that all your UMD GCP implementations follow the university recommended guidelines. Your GCP projects will be billed directly to your organization.

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How do I get started using GCP at UMD?

There are 4 phases to getting started with GCP at UMD, which have been broken up into quadrants.

Quadrant 1: Your initial inquiry

1. You contact the Service Desk with a request for information about GCP. This request will be routed to the Research Technology (RTECH) group (dit-research).
2. RTECH receives the request through IT Support.
3. RTECH provides you with the following documents:
   • Getting Started Information.
   • Customer Questionnaire.
   • Rules of Behavior for GCP.
4. RTECH sets up a meeting with you to discuss your request.
   
   • RTECH provides you with an overview of the GCP services offered.
   • You provide a general overview of how you plan to use GCP. This may include:
     
     • Whether this will be a new implementation.
     • Identifying any current cloud technology implementations in place (such as GCP, AWS, Azure).
     • Identifying what technical support services be needed for implementation (for example, Burwood and Google).
     • A discussion of funding options, including:
       
       • Google credits.
       • Customer funding. This is done through a purchase order (PO) or KFS number.
       • Combination funding (credits and PO).

Quadrant 2: You secure funding

1. You determine how the project will be funded.
2. You identify the funding decision. It may include any or all of the following:
   
   • Google Credit,
   • Department funding.
   • Research grant award.
3. Your college business office generates a PO or KFS number.
4. You notify RTECH once funding is secured.
5. RTECH and Burwood assist you in getting Google Billing setup.
   
   • Billing Portal Access is given to the project owner and business manager.

Quadrant 3: Designing the GCP

1. You complete and submit the GCP Customer Requirements Questionnaire.
2. You sign and return the Rules of Behavior.
3. You discuss the GCP project design and configuration with RTECH, college IT representative, and Google and Burwood (optional).
   
   • RTECH reviews the GCP Customer Questionnaire.
   • You and RTECH identify and document project configuration requirements.

Quadrant 4: Implementation

1. You and your college IT representative submit a task request.
2. Your college IT representative and RTECH set up project Google accounts, groups and roles and permissions.
3. You obtain access to UMD GCP.
4. You sign off on the DIT memorandum of understanding once onboarding is completed.

The chart below demonstrates the process when utilizing UMD GCP services.

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