Backup Technology have been confirmed as a supplier suitable for the G-Cloud.
The G-Cloud has been a long time coming about but the government is finally taking steps in order to roll out its new initiative.
The £60m project is divided into four subsets: ‘Infrastructure as a Service’, ‘Software as a Service’, ‘Platform as a Service’ in addition to other specialist cloud services. Backup Technology have been selected as an approved SaaS supplier.
The government’s attitude toward its IT infrastructure has changed in recent years. Earlier in the year Mark O’Neil, proposition director for innovation and delivery at the Government Digital Service (GDS) implemented cloud-based desktop services, including email and collaboration tools to over 125 users. This cut costs by 80% relative to traditional on-premise services.
One of the major changes to the way in which the government approaches G-Cloud contractual agreements will be the length of time it is willing to sign for. Traditionally it was commonplace for IT contracts to be in place for 10 years. However going forward contracts are expected to only last 12 months! IT contracts are going to become more of a fluid commodity rather than a long-term commitment.
“We really don’t think we’re going to be seeing many contracts in the cloud service area that are beyond 12 months,” Liam Maxwell, Director of ICT Futures at the cabinet office.
However the positive side to this is that the procurement process is set to be much shorter and more efficient. Any MSP is all too familiar with how long the tendering process for public sector services can be.
Such lengthy qualification questionnaires are going to be replaced with processes which allow requirements to be expressed in the simplest way possible.
The process is set to become something of an ‘e-marketplace’ which entails a ‘Cloud Store’ detailing services and suppliers.
“Rather than rigid requirements expressed in overly complex tenders, we are asking suppliers what they can offer and setting out our requirements in the simplest way,” Francis Maude, Cabinet Office Minister.
