Backup Collaboration Mobile Security Storage Strategy Virtualisation
Privacy

Current Filter: Cloud>>>>>Opinion>

PREVIOUS

Filtered Articles:2 of 33   Current Article ID:4819

NEXT



G-ing up local government

Editorial Type: Opinion     Date: 11-2014    Views: 3096      








Why is the G-Cloud framework struggling to take off with local government users? Databarracks' Peter Groucutt examines the issues.

The G-Cloud framework was introduced to provide the public sector with access to innovative cloud offerings from smaller, more entrepreneurial businesses. Traditionally, the market was dominated by large SIs but G-Cloud has begun to level the playing field for SMEs. Public sector organisations have so far spent more than £217m procuring IT services through the government's G-Cloud portal. Central to this growth has been G-Cloud's ability to listen to feedback from suppliers and public sector departments, and make improvements where necessary.

But not all public sector functions are embracing G-Cloud. Research has revealed that less than 1 per cent of local councils in England procured IT services through the online CloudStore between 2012-13. With central government readily embracing the framework, why is there an apparent resistance from local government?

The simple fact is that not enough is being done to raise awareness and educate local government departments about the benefits. Tony Singleton, head of Government Digital Service (GDS), recently announced his intentions to do more to promote the framework to the wider public sector. In light of this, there are four key messages that need to be communicated:

COST SAVINGS
IT procurement in the public sector has traditionally been very inefficient. Long and difficult tender processes have pushed buyers towards selecting a single provider for as many IT services as possible, leading to generalist suppliers rather than specialists.

Such all-encompassing contracts are often very expensive. The Digital Marketplace (which replaces the CloudStore this year), makes it easy to pick up individual services from different suppliers without the fuss of large tenders. As a result, costs are far lower.

G-Cloud has actually been criticised for not offering lengthy enough contracts - something that surely indicates how entrenched the idea of giant IT contracts is within the public sector.

FLEXIBILITY
Even within your contract period, the flexibility of cloud services means you don't have to pay for more than you need.

When planning storage traditionally, buyers had to think: "By month 36, I will need 'x' terabytes"" and that was how much they would buy. Now they can sign up for a specific period, but if in month 1 you have 1TB of storage, that is how much you pay for. In month 12 you might have 100TB, but you won't have to pay for that unless you need it. This is the flexibility of cloud computing pricing models - now brought to the public sector by G-Cloud.

CHOICE
The Digital Marketplace allows managers to compare prices and services, create a shortlist and filter based on pricing models and support levels.

In the past, sector-specific accreditations required to provide services to the public sector could be off-putting for smaller suppliers. Only the largest firms could afford the time and resources to be accredited by each individual department.

Now suppliers can self-assert their services based on recommendations from G-Cloud on appropriate frameworks, such as ISO 27001, SSAE 16 and the Cloud Security Alliance Cloud Controls Matrix. Customers can then decide which frameworks are important to them when choosing a provider, using guidance from G-Cloud on the cloud security principles.



Page   1  2

Like this article? Click here to get the Newsletter and Magazine Free!

Email The Editor!         OR         Forward ArticleGo Top


PREVIOUS

                    


NEXT