UW-Madison Cloud Services (AWS, GCP, Azure)

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UW-Madison
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Author

Chris Endemann

Published

March 2, 2026

UW-Madison offers enterprise cloud computing through contracts with Amazon Web Services (AWS), Google Cloud Platform (GCP), and Microsoft Azure. These services are managed by the UW Public Cloud Team, a cross-disciplinary group of operations, cybersecurity, and research cyberinfrastructure (RCI) professionals.

Using a UW-provisioned cloud account — rather than a personal one — gives you access to institutional pricing discounts, lower overhead on grants, data protection agreements, security monitoring, and dedicated support. If you’re doing any research or university work in the cloud, start here.

Why use a UW-provisioned account?

A self-provisioned cloud account (e.g., one you create directly with Google or AWS) is a personal agreement between you and the vendor — it is not covered by UW-Madison’s institutional contracts. By going through the UW Public Cloud Team, you get:

  • Negotiated pricing: UW contracts leverage Internet2 NET+ agreements and institutional reseller rates. For example, GCP accounts include a network egress waiver (up to 15% of your total bill), and Azure accounts receive ~3.5% off retail pricing.
  • Lower overhead on grants: Normally, UW adds 55.5% in overhead (F&A) to cloud expenses on grants. With a UW cloud account, that drops to 26% — so for every $10,000 you spend on cloud computing, you save about $2,950 in overhead. See the Cloud Computing Pilot for details.
  • NIH STRIDES discounts: NIH-funded researchers get additional cloud pricing discounts (on top of the UW contract rates) through the STRIDES Initiative. The UW cloud team can transition you into or out of STRIDES at any time — no data migration needed.
  • Business Associates Agreement (BAA): UW’s contracts include a BAA that governs vendor access to your data, which is critical for HIPAA-regulated health data.
  • Security monitoring: UW accounts benefit from Security Command Center monitoring with alerts escalated to the UW Cybersecurity Operations Team (CSOC).
  • Baseline security configuration: Accounts come pre-configured to meet CIS benchmark standards with NetID authentication built in.
  • Dedicated support: Get help from the DoIT Cloud Team via email (cloud-services@cio.wisc.edu), office hours, and in-person/video consultations.

For the full breakdown, see Why Should I Use a UW Madison Public Cloud Account? on the UW KnowledgeBase.

How to request a UW cloud account

To get started with any of the three platforms:

  1. Get a DoIT Billing Customer ID — you’ll need this to tie your cloud usage to a funding source.
  2. Fill out the UW-Madison Cloud Account Request Form — this covers AWS, GCP, and Azure. Indicate your intended data types and use case.
  3. For sensitive/restricted data — you must complete a Cybersecurity risk assessment before processing HIPAA, FERPA, or other regulated data in the cloud.

Platform-specific details:

Research funding & credits

Reduced overhead on grants (Cloud Computing Pilot)

UW-Madison normally adds 55.5% in overhead (formally called “F&A” or “facilities & administrative costs”) to cloud expenses on grants. The Cloud Computing Pilot cuts that to 26% when you use a UW-provisioned cloud account. In practice, that means for every $10,000 in cloud spending, you’ll pay ~$2,600 in overhead instead of ~$5,550 — a savings of about $2,950.

  • Applies to new proposals and awards (including new funding increments).
  • You must use a UW cloud account — costs paid via purchasing card or personal accounts are charged the full 55.5%.
  • RSP provides budget templates to help you plan proposals with the reduced rate.
  • Contact RSP with questions about grant compliance.

NIH STRIDES Initiative

If you have NIH funding, you can get additional cloud discounts on top of the standard UW rates through the STRIDES Initiative. STRIDES covers AWS, GCP, and Azure:

  • Discounted pricing on cloud services, layered on top of UW’s institutional rates.
  • Professional service consultations and technical support from STRIDES partners.
  • No data or configuration changes needed — the UW cloud team can transition you in or out at any time.

Google Cloud Research Credits

Google offers up to $5,000 in cloud credits for faculty, postdoctoral, and non-profit researchers (up to $1,000 for PhD students). These credits can be used for compute, storage, and data analysis on GCP.

  • Apply for Google Cloud Research Credits
  • Applications are accepted on a rolling basis; decisions typically take 6–8 weeks.
  • Faculty/postdocs may apply once; PhD students may apply once per year.
  • You’ll need a research proposal and a GCP billing account to apply.

Google Cloud Skills Boost

UW-Madison has a limited number of seats for Google Cloud Skills Boost, a hands-on learning platform for GCP. If you’re interested, reach out to the Public Cloud Team at cloud-services@cio.wisc.edu.

Data protection & compliance

UW-Madison classifies institutional data into four risk categories: Restricted, Sensitive, Internal, and Public. Cloud eligibility depends on data classification:

Data type Cloud eligible? Requirements
Public / Internal Yes Standard UW cloud account
Sensitive Yes, with assessment Cybersecurity risk assessment required
Restricted (HIPAA, etc.) Yes, with assessment Risk assessment + risk executive approval + HIPAA-eligible services

Key compliance resources:

Getting help

  • Office hours: The RCI and Public Cloud Team hold drop-in hours on Thursdays, 2–3:15 PM via Zoom. Open to the entire UW community.
  • Cloud Community: Join the UW Cloud Community group — they meet every other month to share cloud computing experiences and tips.
  • Email: cloud-services@cio.wisc.edu
  • Public Cloud KnowledgeBase: kb.wisc.edu — FAQs, pricing info, and how-to guides.
  • ML+X Community: Join ML+X for monthly meetings on machine learning and AI.

Questions

If you have any questions about this resource, please post to the Nexus Q&A on GitHub.