SUBJECT:

IDC Waiver for Cloud Services

The Offices of the Vice Chancellor for Research, the Vice Chancellor and CFO, and Chief Information Officer are pleased to announce that effective July 1, 2017, costs associated with cloud and shared computing services (research storage, managed services and cloud services) from Information Technology Services (ITS) or San Diego Super Computer (SDSC), or through direct contracts with Amazon Web Services or Microsoft Azure via Marketplace, will be exempt from indirect cost recovery (IDC, also known as F&A charges) in extramurally funded research.

Please note:
-At this time, the SDSC services that fall under this waiver are limited to the following: SDSC Cloud storage, Commvault, Project Storage and Triton Shared Computing Cluster (TSCC).
-As campus wide contracts are realized for additional commercial cloud service providers, they may be added to the exemption list.

Background:
UC San Diego is committed to supporting our research mission through policies that enhance grant competitiveness. This waiver will allow researchers to choose the most appropriate solution to meet their research computing needs of storage, computer or contracted cloud services, without inclusion of indirect costs. In the past, PIs may have purchased their own equipment with more capacity or peak load capability than needed. Such purchases result in elevated expenses for the PI, a proliferation of less-efficient systems, and higher overall university costs. By offering state-of-the-art cloud infrastructure services through consolidated contracting and eliminating the application of IDC, UC San Diego is ensuring our researchers can use their research funding further to meet other critical needs.

Implementation:
If you are already working with ITS and SDSC for the services listed above, the charges reflected on the general ledger have been automatically adjusted commencing with the July billing.

For researchers contracting for AWS or Microsoft cloud computing services through Marketplace, the Marketplace team have processed account code changes to update POs issued starting in July and can assist with new purchases to ensure that eligible charges are not subject to IDC.

When developing budgets for new proposals, please include eligible costs in calculating the modified total direct costs (MTDC) so that IDC costs are not added. Information is provided here:
https://goo.gl/r7s4ze

PIs can qualify for IDC exemption on new purchases by:
-Working with ITS and SDSC for the services listed above.
-Contracting Amazon AWS and Microsoft Cloud Services through Marketplace.

Federal Compliance with cybersecurity contracting requirements: If the research associated with the adoption of any cloud and shared computing services includes restricted data such as controlled unclassified information, the environment must meet federal cybersecurity contractual requirements. If such data is export restricted, please coordinate with UCSD Export Control:
https://blink.ucsd.edu/sponsor/exportcontrol/basics.html

Refer to the following links for more information:
UCSD Indirect Cost Exemption
(https://blink.ucsd.edu/technology/cloud/indirect-cost-exemption.html)
Amazon Web Services (https://blink.ucsd.edu/technology/cloud/aws/)
Microsoft Azure
(https://blink.ucsd.edu/technology/cloud/azure/index.html)
For information on SDSC services:
http://www.sdsc.edu/services/index.html or contact Ryan Nakashima at services@sdsc.edu For information on ITS support services:
https://blink.ucsd.edu/technology/cloud/index.html

Sandra A. Brown Vice Chancellor for Research Pierre Ouillet Vice Chancellor and Chief Financial Officer Vince Kellen Chief Information Officer