A cloud deployment only certifies if you can prove it. Instances are ephemeral, so the record has to be captured while the deployment runs, not reconstructed at exit. This is the evidence a cloud count needs to hold, and the timing that decides whether you still have it.
A cloud line needs proof the deployment existed inside the term, ran on a platform the contract counts, and met any conditions the clause sets. In practice that means instance records, processor or core detail, region and account identifiers, deployment dates, and where a continuous run clause applies, a record showing the 365 continuous days were met. The evidence file matters as much as the number, because an unprovable cloud line is the first thing a review removes.
A real deployment you cannot prove counts the same as one that never existed. In the cloud, the evidence is the deployment, because the instance itself will be gone.
An on premises server sits in a rack and can be inspected months later. A cloud instance is elastic and ephemeral. It can be created, scaled, and torn down inside a single quarter, and once it is gone it leaves only the logs and billing records you thought to keep. A deployment that was genuinely live during the term can be entirely real and still unprovable at certification, because the thing that proved it has expired. That is the trap with cloud counts. The capacity was there, the entitlement was due, and the evidence was never captured.
For each deployment, capture the instance type, the processor or core count, and the shape, so the processor figure with its core factor can be derived and defended.
Record the account, project, and region. This proves the deployment sat on a platform the contract counts and inside the scope your agreement defines, which matters as much as the raw number.
Capture the deployment date and, critically, the running record. Where a continuous run clause applies, you need evidence the deployment ran 365 continuous days, and that can only come from data spanning the whole period.
Provider billing and activity logs are often the most durable proof a cloud deployment existed and ran, because they are generated automatically and timestamped. Retain them deliberately rather than letting retention windows expire.
A media group certified several cloud deployments. Two were supported by complete billing exports, region records, and continuous run evidence, and counted without question. A third, just as real, had been torn down and rebuilt during the term and its early records had aged out of provider retention, so the continuous run could not be proven. That line was set aside, not because the deployment was false, but because the evidence had expired. The lesson was captured for the rest of the estate. Figures are indicative and depend on the specific contract language.
During the term, as deployments run, never at certification. This is the single most important point about cloud evidence. A continuous run clause can only be proven with records captured across the full period, and ephemeral instances cannot be reconstructed once gone. Set retention so the relevant logs survive to certification, and capture a deployment's evidence when it goes live rather than hoping to find it later. Assembling cloud evidence at exit is how genuine deployments fail to count, because the proof has already disappeared.
Which platforms count, what conditions each carries, and whether a continuous run clause applies all come from the specific agreement, and they set exactly what evidence you need. Two firms with cloud deployments can require very different proof because their clauses read differently. In ULA work the answer almost always depends on the specific wording, so the evidence plan is built from your own contract and started early.
If any part of your certified count will rest on cloud, build the evidence plan now, while the records still exist. Start with the ULA exit strategy pillar guide, then read when the ULA is silent on GCP and the cloud exposure after certification.
A cloud line needs proof the deployment existed inside the term, ran on a platform the contract counts, and met any conditions the clause sets. That means instance records, processor or core detail, region and account identifiers, deployment dates, and where a continuous run clause applies, a record showing the 365 continuous days were met.
Cloud instances are ephemeral and elastic, so a deployment that existed during the term may be gone by the time anyone looks. On premises servers persist, but a cloud instance leaves only the logs and billing records you captured. If those were not collected during the term, the deployment can be real and still unprovable.
During the term, as deployments run, not at certification. A continuous run clause in particular can only be proven with records captured across the full period. Waiting until exit to assemble cloud evidence is how genuine deployments fail to count, because the proof has already expired.
Book a confidential assessment and we will build the cloud evidence plan your contract requires, while the records that support it still exist.