UKFast, Softcat And Phoenix Join Government’s G-Cloud III Suppliers
Influx of competitive G-Cloud services providers could fulfil the dream of cutting public sector waste
The supply of IT services to the public sector could become more competitive as three new service providers have joined the government’s G-Cloud iii framework.
UKFast, Softcat and Phoenix are all to take part in the latest phase of the programme that aims to diversify government supplier lists by easing the way for SMEs to pitch for tenders.
SME Too
UKFast is to be a supplier of Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) and Software as a Service (SaaS). Phoenix will offer the same as well as Platform as a Service (PaaS) and specialist cloud services. Meanwhile, Softcat has provided AirWatch’s enterprise mobility management (EMM) service to control all the mobile assets of G-Cloud users from one console.
Public sector computing is long overdue some competition, said Lawrence Jones, UKFast’s CEO, as the G-Cloud programme opened its doors to smaller firms to provide services. “It’s also a tremendous achievement for us,” said Jones, who also announced a company data centre complex, MaNOC 5, 6, and 7.
Softcat aimed to offer services to manage the proliferation of BYOD (bring your own device) schemes through AirWatch’s tools for mobile device, application and content management.
“Softcat’s approach to the G-Cloud is to source and introduce services in high demand, within an affordable price bracket,” promised Andy Bruen, Softcat’s public sector frameworks manager.
Ian Evans, AirWatch’s MD, pledged that the tax payer would benefit from IT that was regulated by, “Solutions that allow public sector organisations to benefit from the efficiency and productivity opportunities mobile working has to offer.”
Figures released by the Cabinet Office show a 50 percent rise in G-Cloud services procurement in the last month with reported sales across both G-Cloud I and G-Cloud II frameworks now stands at over £18M.
The G-Cloud framework has made it easier for civil servants to find alternative suppliers of IT and services, said Peter Bertram, Phoenix’s executive chairman. “More public sector organisations are exploring and exploiting the benefit of Cloud via the G-Cloud framework, which gives them the opportunity to select from suppliers with clear pricing and service deliverables,” said Bertram.