G Cloud - The innovative way to save the Tax Payer £340m

The Government establish a streamlined ICT Infrastructure for the Public Sector.

With the current state of the UK economy, everyone is looking for ways to save money and this is exactly what the government aim to do with the use of G-Cloud. G –Cloud is going to radically change the public sector ICT infrastructure. The government released a £60m tender in October last year which is expected to save the Tax payer a huge £340million between now and 2015.

The Government cloud computing strategy, known as G-cloud will address concerns outlined last month by the Public Administration Select Committee (PASC). G-Cloud is a great way of saving Tax payers a fortune and stream line the Public Sector ICT Infrastructure. Instead of hosting applications on one server, they will be hosted in “the cloud” – a collection of computers and servers that can be accessed via the internet or private network for sharing files and applications. This will be great for the public sector and will save money on buying individually generated applications for personal desktops.

By adopting cloud computing, the government will be able to more easily exploit and share commodity ICT products and services. G-Cloud contracts with suppliers are being signed at 10 per cent of the price that other departments currently pay. This service has potential to save millions of pounds and offers the public sector the ability to run their ICT more efficiently.

Cloud computing is a way to access and use ICT services in a flexible way, buying only the services needed when they are needed. The G-Cloud is a very modern take on ICT and offers a buy when you use basis. The public sector can pay for what they use rather than paying a huge subscription fee. G-Cloud also enables businesses to run smoothly and share files in a safe and open environment without being stuck with long contracts.

The obvious benefits for the government are cost and a more stream lined ICT infrastructure. Many more common commodity solutions become available with the G-Cloud service, a range of the best ICT services will come forward and make themselves available for the government; meaning that all the public sector can use software when they need it and not create duplicate services that cannot be shared.

The Scheme offers Flexibility and Freedom to it’s clients – If required departments and organizations can change provider easily without lengthy procurement and implementation cycles. No lock in contracts offers freedom to adopt more efficient data solutions.

 Competitive Marketplace – a range of service providers constantly improving the quality and value of the solutions they offer, from small SME organisations providing niche products to large scale hosting and computer server capacity.

The benefits to the suppliers are:

Open Marketplace –There will always be a need and an end user to supply. The G-Cloud scheme enables providers with a huge market place. As government customers are not locked-in to long-term service contracts, suppliers are free to offer new, better quality solutions to government clients at any time.

Simple and Fair Procurement – simplified commodity purchasing, through the use of systems, removes the need for long, expensive procurement processes. This creates a level playing field for suppliers, both major and emerging providers, especially SMEs which will be able to offer solutions that can be easily and quickly adopted by government.

Freedom to Innovate – service suppliers are free to innovate, to offer new solutions and improvements to services at any time.

G-Cloud is a great solution to many Public Sector ICT needs and the saving of £340m in 3 years is sure to be music to everyone's ears, As the internet becomes more social, the focus on sharing and socially sharing becomes more evident, and the government has responded to this by generating the G-Cloud sharing environment. G-cloud offers a stream lined ICT infrastructure which thousands will benefit from.

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