Stop the press: we are now on the G-Cloud framework
Great news from Gradient HQ.
We’re now an approved supplier to HMGovernment as we’ve been accepted onto the UK government’s G-Cloud 10 framework!
We’re very pleased and very excited to join the new cohort of SME Cloud service providers.
We have listed one of our products: Gurn — our information retrieval tool.
Gurn will sit under the Cloud Software domain.
This a huge step for us. I thought I’d write down a few thoughts about G-Cloud and why we applied!
If you’re thinking ‘what is G-Cloud…?’
G-Cloud is the UK government’s initiative to provide a procurement framework for public sector bodies to procure cloud computing solutions. Suppliers do not have to be UK-based, and departments are encouraged to look at the SME end of the market instead of erring towards the usual suspects.
The first G-Cloud framework was launched in 2012. We’re now at G-Cloud 10.
New iterations of the framework enable:
- New suppliers to join
- Previous suppliers can update/add new services
- The framework requirements on placed on suppliers can be updated
What has G-Cloud accomplished so far…?
G-Cloud statistics are published regularly and detail who has been awarded contracts through the framework.
Key highlights are, up to 31st December 2017:
- Total sales value (exc. VAT): £2,852,725,836
- SME’s achieved 48% of the sales value
- SME’s achieved 71% of the sales volume
Who are the buyers?
- 83% were through central government
- 17% were through the wider public sector
These look like great numbers. I mean c.£1.8bn going to SME’s is brilliant.
However, a lot of expenditure on SME services is not direct expenditure. Instead these SMEs are part of a larger supplier’s supply chain. One can argue this means that the SME will find it harder to form strong relationships with the public sector body it is providing services too. Also, it makes the SME a price taker, and not a price maker, meaning the large supplier maintains the balance of power.
There’s a lot more nuance and debate to be had about these figures. Another time perhaps…?
So… why did we apply to G-Cloud?
There were a few reasons
- Gurn has proven it can deliver impact and benefits to the Public Sector
- UK Gov wants to further increase the proportion of spend on SMEs
- UK Gov wants to engage with innovative companies to improve the digital experience of its civil servants and citizens
We believe every department could benefit from using Gurn
Where Gurn has been deployed it:
- Enables staff to have instant access to the web resources they need
- Improves collaboration amongst teams
- Lessens staff frustration
What can you do to help?
Do you know someone in the Public Sector who has spoken of how it’s difficult to find the information or web resources they need?
Then tell them to head to the Gurn website so they can check it out and then reach out to us!
It can be deployed rapidly, and users see the benefits from day one.
Simple.
Rory is co-founder of www.gurn.io. Gurn is a browser-based information retrieval tool that enables you to navigate to all your tools and resources with a single command. Check out how it help you be more productive at work by instantly getting you to what you need and speeding up your workflow.
