Snowflake strengthens public sector commitment in Australia with completed IRAP Protected Assessment on Google Cloud
NYSE-listed AI Data Cloud company Snowflake have today announced it has completed an Infosec Registered Assessors Program (IRAP) assessment for its deployment in Google Cloud’s Melbourne region.
Developed by the Australian Signals Directorate (ASD), IRAP is an independent assessment of the effectiveness of a system’s security controls. Public sector organisations, particularly at the Federal Government level, use IRAP Assessment outcomes to evaluate a system’s suitability for their security requirements.
Snowflake’s Google Cloud Melbourne region instance was assessed by a certified third-party IRAP assessor and found to be aligned with IRAP’s PROTECTED level control requirements. The IRAP assessment enables Australian Government agencies to deploy a wide array of workloads on the Snowflake AI Data Cloud.
Glenn McPherson, Regional Vice President, Australia for Snowflake, said Snowflake can now support public sector workloads up to PROTECTED level across all three major hyperscalers – AWS, Azure, and now Google Cloud.
“Unlocking the full value of data and AI is essential for Australian Government agencies to improve service delivery, strengthen security, and to enable faster, better-informed decisions,” McPherson said. “As agencies modernise legacy environments, manage growing volumes of sensitive information and embark on AI initiatives, they need a platform like Snowflake to support secure analytics, governed collaboration, and operational scale.”
Completing the IRAP Assessment gives Australian public sector agencies greater assurance when deploying Snowflake to mobilise their data with strong security, governance, and interoperability across environments. Snowflake enables customers to unify siloed data, securely share governed data, and support diverse analytical workloads from a single platform across clouds.
With Snowflake on Google Cloud assessed at the PROTECTED level, agencies can use the platform to support a wide range of needs, including:
- Unifying fragmented data across systems to create a more complete operational picture for analysis and reporting.
- Enabling secure data sharing and collaboration without unnecessary data movement or duplication.
- Improving decision-making with trusted, timely insight drawn from governed data.
- Supporting AI and advanced analytics on a secure and compliant data foundation.
- Scaling efficiently with the elasticity and performance needed for modern public sector workloads.
“Completing an IRAP assessment at the PROTECTED level across all three major hyperscalers underscores our ongoing commitment to security and supporting Australian public sector customers with the controls and assurance they need to embrace an AI and data-driven future,” McPherson said.
