BDC Magazine - Online version December 2015 Issue - 216 | Page 136

government digital.qxp_feature 2 16/10/2015 12:20 Page 134

PUBLIC SECTOR: GOVERNMENT DIGITAL SERVICE

Procurement
for the digital age
A change in the way information systems
can be delivered

A

n initiative aimed at eas-

tion of days and weeks not months or years,

the outset the cost of the product and, impor-

ing procurement by pub-

making buying easier and saving on costs.

tantly, the cost of exit from contracts that will

lic

sector

bodies

in

The G-Cloud consists of a series of frame-

departments of the UK

work agreements with suppliers, from which

Following the service beginning in 2012,

government

com-

public sector organisations can call on servic-

more than 700 suppliers – 80% of which

modity IT services, the G-Cloud scheme

es without needing to run a full tender or

were small or medium sized enterprises –

has quickly provided a number of benefits.

competition procurement process. Through

were part of the framework within 12

It gives businesses an established procure-

the online store – or “digital marketplace” -

months. £18.2m of sales were made by

ment framework, while the promotion of

public sector bodies can search for services

April 2013 and with the adoption of the

innovative technologies delivers faster, prof-

that are covered by the G-Cloud frameworks.

Cloud First policy in the UK in late

itable advantages alongside reduced costs.

"By creating a competitive marketplace,

February 2014 sales continued to grow. In

There is no long term commitment, flexibil-

the G-Cloud framework will constantly

fact, reports in 2014 said the figure was

ity to choose from a comprehensive set of

encourage service providers to improve the

around £50m.

products including open source technology,

quality and value of the solutions they

Massimiliano Claps, research director at

and a choice of several services that have

offer, reducing the cost to taxpayers and

IDC believes the UK is far more advanced

been accredited at an official level.

suppliers," said Cabinet Office minister

in its pursuit of pushing cloud services in

of

be no longer than 12 months," said Maude.

G-Cloud, using a centralised procure-

Francis Maude, when launching the servic-

the public sector than most countries. He

ment framework, can gain access to more

es. "It gives SMB suppliers of niche prod-

said: “If you look at what the rest of

than 800 suppliers and more than 7,000

ucts the same opportunities as bigger organ-

Europe is doing it’s clear the UK is far more

services across all types of cloud-based

isations supplying services."

advanced. Part of the reason is cultural.

service models. This includes public, pri-

Examples

of

G-Cloud’s

services

The UK has a legacy of being far more

vate and hybrid from the G-Cloud Digital

includes word processing, email, electronic

open to contracting with global suppliers. If

Marketplace.

records management, system hosting,

you look at Germany, France, Italy, Spain,

Through a legally compliant framework

enterprise resource planning, office produc-

and to some extent Northern Europe, they

it provides public sector organisations a

tivity applications and customer relation-

more often than not rely on local vendors.

way in which they can buy commodity pay-

ship management.

And none of them are really releasing

as-you-go services, as a cheaper alternative

"Using cloud solutions that have already

to traditionally sourced ICT. Simple and

been secured and accredited will almost

transparent, G-Cloud is easy to use. Indeed,

always be less expensive, and we will only

users have already noted rapid implementa-

pay for what we use. We will also know from

134

guidelines on how to procure these services
in a consolidated way.”

www.digitalmarketplace.service.gov.uk