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G-Cloud needs a boost

Editorial Type: News     Date: 04-2015    Views: 1708   






Government needs renewed focus, says Streamwire

The latest Cabinet Office figures show that while G-Cloud sales were low compared to overall public sector IT spending, 49 per cent of the total £559m in sales were awarded to SMEs. Anne Stokes, CEO of Streamwire says: “G-Cloud is a brilliant opportunity for the public sector to benefit from the innovation, agility and cost effectiveness of the SME community and thereby help the government achieve their 1% savings target. That being said, breaking through the “low cloud ceiling” is hard, as evidenced by the disappointing figures just announced by the Cabinet Office, which show that in many ways the G-Cloud is still in its infancy. Sadly, It remains a reality of business life that SMEs still face the challenge that many procurers still believe the technology giants to be a safe pair of hands. While there are many large businesses that do provide a good service, they can also be expensive, deliver overly complex solutions and deliver licensing agreements that lock the public sector into long-term commitments that are hard to get out of. The situation has been further compounded by the shortage of appropriately skilled staff in the public sector creating a dependency on large providers to drive the rules of engagement”.

However, while sales have been low, the fact that nearly half of those sales went to SMEs is a hopeful sign for the future. These figures should reinforce the government’s view that the G-Cloud is the only game in town when it comes to increasing SME input into public sector IT. Letting this power house of innovation and enterprise help close the deficit gap should be a priority for the government as it settles into a second term.

Anne Stokes concludes:“The limited success of the G-Cloud demonstrates how SMEs have the untapped potential to add real value to any organisation and provide a service that they really need, typically at a much lower cost and in a more agile timeline. The reality is that SMEs understand the importance of delivering value for money quickly, and this is something that can benefit every community in the UK. The government needs a firm policy to insist on the use of G-Cloud for all IT services and bring the SME community into the forefront to close the budget deficit."
www.streamwire.co.uk

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