An updated UK Government procurement framework known as G-Cloud 10, which could eventually be worth £600m, will allow thousands of SMEs to provide public sector bodies with cloud-based services
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Thousands of small businesses in the UK can now bid to supply cloud computing services to public bodies via a procurement framework known as G-Cloud 10.
The Crown Commercial Service framework will be accessible to more than 3,500 suppliers – with more than 90% of them SMEs – which the government claims could reach a value of £600m.
It provides central government, councils, NHS trusts and other public sector organisations with a way to buy cloud-based services, such as web hosting, from a single, central website.
Oliver Dowden, minister for implementation, said: “Small businesses are the backbone of our economy, delivering innovative solutions in partnership with the public sector, fuelling economic growth and supporting the delivery of efficient, effective public services that meet the needs of citizens.
“The success of G-Cloud 10 demonstrates how we are breaking down the barriers for SMEs who want to supply to government.”
The evolution of G-Cloud 10
G-Cloud 10 has 3,505 suppliers – 649 more than its previous iteration, G-Cloud 9.
More than £3bn of cloud and digital services has been purchased by public bodies through the G-Cloud framework since its inception 2012, with 48% of that money going directly to SMEs.
UKCloud, an SME based in Farnborough, has been a G-Cloud supplier from the start.
It has grown from a six employee start-up in 2012 to now employing 200 people, and makes use of undergraduate and apprenticeship programmes.
UKCloud CEO Simon Hansford said: “The UK Government’s initial introduction of the G-Cloud framework was ground-breaking and provided a level playing field for government technology suppliers that has been copied across the world.
“With each iteration the framework has seen enhanced functionality and an increased volume of transactions as it has supported a thriving ecosystem of UK tech SMEs that have succeeded in winning business through it.”
G-Cloud 10 is accessed through the Digital Marketplace – created in 2014 by Crown Commercial Service and Government Digital Service in order to make government procurement easier and more transparent.
To find out more about G-Cloud, visit the Digital Marketplace.