New version to come earlier than planned with promise of new potential for SMEs
The Crown Commercial Service (CCS) has announced it will make the new version of the G-Cloud procurement framework available from June of this year, considerably earlier than originally planned.
It plans to publish the procurement notice for G-Cloud 10 – the public sector’s procurement mechanism for cloud computing services – in April and has indicated it could be worth £600 million in sales.
A spokesperson said that CCS had planned not to re-let the framework this year, but after feedback from suppliers it had decided one was needed to accommodate new offerings and updated pricing.
It emphasised the potential for small businesses that are not on G-Cloud 9 to break into the public sector market using the new framework.
Oliver Dowden (pictured), minister for implementation in the Cabinet Office, said: “I’m pleased to confirm that we will re-let the G-Cloud framework, which provides opportunities to many small businesses in the digital sector.
“This will provide innovative online solutions to government, supporting the delivery of efficient, effective public services. Small businesses are the backbone of our economy, so it’s crucial that we listen to them when shaping policy, as we have done today.”
The news was welcomed by IT industry association techUK. Its head of public sector, Rob Driver, said: “The announcement of the G-Cloud 10 Framework should be welcomed as it allows new innovative providers to work with government, enables new services to be provided and is an opportunity to engage with the wider public sector to make use of the framework.”
The current version of the framework has 2,856 suppliers, over 90% of which are SMEs. Central and local government has spent almost £3 billion since its launch in 2012, with £1.4 billion going to small companies.
Image from GOV.UK, Open Government Licence v3.0
