Government Raises Spend Ceiling On Launch Of G-Cloud 3

The government has confirmed the launch and timetable for the next procurement round for applications to join G-Cloud.

G-Cloud 3 (G3) is the third procurement round for the service, which promotes a common platform for procuring the technology behind government services.

The first framework went live in February 2012 and the CloudStore now offers more than 3,200 services and has generated more than £4 million in sales, 60 percent of which has gone to SMEs.

G Cloud 3 framework

The government claims to have listened to feedback from both buyers and suppliers and has increased the total value of potential spend on the G-Cloud framework from £100 million to £200 million. It is also promising to strengthen representation on the framework in identity services, service integration and service management, software support and business process automation.

Existing suppliers can choose to remain on the existing G2 framework, which launched last October and runs until 27 October 2013, or choose to roll over services to G3. Any rolled over or new services will, however, need to be submitted as part of a tender response, while new suppliers must also complete the new, simplified, application process.

The deadline for submissions is on 21 February, with successful and unsuccessful applicants notified on 29 March.

It remains to be seen whether Amazon and Google will be applying this time round. TechWeekEurope discovered that the two companies were keen to get on the second framework, but had their applications denied as their services were deemed not to be ‘government ready’.

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