G-Cloud Buyers Guide

Introduction

What is G-Cloud?

The UK Government G-Cloud is an initiative that began in 2012 to make procurement of cloud technology easier for public sector bodies. It consists of two main components:

A catalogue of suppliers and services published on the Digital Marketplace to make it easier to find cloud solutions
A contract framework to make it easier to buy those solutions

How it works

What can I buy on G-Cloud?

There are over 30,000 services on the G-Cloud framework, across three broad categories (lots):

Lot 1: Cloud Hosting

Cloud infrastructure for processing and storing data, running software or networking e.g. content delivery networks for serving webpages

Lot 2: Cloud Software

Cloud hosted software applications that are accessed over the internet e.g. content management systems for creating and managing websites

Lot 3: Cloud Support

Services to help set up and manage cloud software or hosting services e.g. website migration services or ongoing website support

How have G-Cloud suppliers been evaluated?

One of the big benefits of G-Cloud is that the G-Cloud team in Crown Commercial Services (CCS) have already evaluated each supplier in order to accept them onto the framework. This reduces the amount of effort required by public sector organisation in gathering information about each supplier and assessing their suitability.

To be accepted onto the G-Cloud framework (and therefore appear on the Digital Marketplace), all suppliers must confirm that they:

agree to the latest G-Cloud framework agreement
will take full responsibility for the work they do
haven’t broken any laws that could lead to a mandatory exclusion from the application process

Supplier must also provide detailed information in a common format regarding:

how secure their services are
how much their services cost
where they store customers data
whether their services are based on open standards

This makes it easy for public sector buyers to compare the services from different suppliers and select the best solution for them.

Although the financial position of each supplier is NOT checked when they apply to the framework, once a supplier have been accepted on to G-Cloud, CCS:

monitor their credit scores, for example Experian credit scores and Dun & Bradstreet financial stress scores
investigates any specific queries raised about them
performs assurance verification on their services to ensure they match the information provided in their application

Buying G-Cloud Services

Defining your requirements

The first essential step in using G-Cloud to procure your cloud technology solution is to define your requirements. This may sound obvious, but the more accurately you can define your need, the easier it will be to compare the different suppliers and services and ultimately select the best one for you.

Defining requirements usually entails a discovery exercise where you engage the people who will use the service as well as buying specialists and technical experts in your organisation. Through this discovery, you will be able to prepare a list of ‘must-have’ features as well as those features you would ideally like but are not essential.

These requirements will help you decide:

which category (lot) to search in
what keywords and filters to use in order to narrow your search

Searching the Digital Marketplace

The Digital Marketplace allows you to search in each specific category (lot) but you can also search across all lots. This can be useful if you are exploring what is on offer for certain keywords relating to your requirements. For example, when selecting a solution for a content management system to create and maintain a website, there are likely to be cloud hosting options as well as cloud software options that can meet the requirements. Searching across all the lots can help you to gain a deeper understanding of these different solutions and refine your requirements further.

G-Cloud Search

Using keywords to search

Just like using Google to search the internet, the Digital Marketplace allows you to type in keywords that describe your requirements and returns the most relevant services that match those keywords.

G-Cloud Keyword Search

You are then able to save those searches so you can return to them again later. Saving searches is also an important part of the audit trail that will help support your decision about which supplier and service you have selected. Once you are ready to start evaluating the services returned in your search, you can export the search results as a spreadsheet or CSV file. This will help you to compare the different services on offer and create a short list of appropriate suppliers.

Contacting suppliers

When you have created your shortlist, it may be necessary to request further information from each supplier to help make your decision. This can be done using the contact details displayed on their service page on the Digital Marketplace.

Selecting a supplier and service

Once you have assessed all the services in your search results, you can select the supplier/ service that best meets your requirements. Your assessment of these services should always be as fair and as transparent as possible and it is important to maintain an audit trail using the saved searches and exported search results to document your selection process. When making your decision you must not:

combine the results of more than one search to create a shortlist
hold a competition to decide the winner
ask suppliers to tender, bid or submit proposals
unfairly exclude any services without referring back to your requirements

As described above, you can contact the suppliers to ask clarification questions, but you must not negotiate with them about the details of their service.

Considerations when making your final selection should include:

whole life cost of the service, including the cost effectiveness, unit price and ongoing running costs
technical merit and functional fit with your requirements
in life (after-sales) service management including helpdesk and account management
non-functional criteria including supplier terms & conditions and service features like service exit planning

Your final choice of winning supplier should be the one whose service provides the best fit for you requirements and most economical advantagious terms (MEAT).

Once you have chosen a service, you are ready to award a contract to the supplier.

G-Cloud Contracts

Contract awards on G-Cloud are normally for for a duration of up to 24 months, but they can be extended by one year and then a further year, making the total maximum G-Cloud contract duration 48 months. Both the buyer and supplier must sign a copy of the C-Gloud call off contract and order form before the service can be used.

The order form is the part of the call off contract that the buyer complete in order to agree details with the supplier. It includes the terms under which the supplier will provide a service and can highlight things like invoicing arrangements or any additional terms and conditions. Once signed, your cloud service is ready to commence!

For more information about using G-Cloud check out the buyers guide on GOV.UK.