In essence, G-Cloud 12 is a digital marketplace for public sector customers to buy innovative cloud-based solutions.

Who is G-Cloud 12 for?

G-Cloud 12 is for Councils who want to buy cloud services from a digital catalogue where the suppliers and their products are compliant to government standards. Crown Commercial Services (CCS) provide this through their online digital catalogue – the Digital Marketplace.

Within the Digital Marketplace, Councils can find all the suppliers’ service information, including comprehensive service definitions, pricing documents and suppliers’ terms & conditions which enable them to evaluate the capabilities of the supplier.

The G-Cloud framework supports the Government’s Cloud First policy as a way to access and use cloud-based services in a flexible and agile way, buying only the services needed, when they are needed.

Ultimately, it is for Councils who do not want to go through the time and expense of full procurement for a cloud-based solution when they can instead jump to a mini competition or even place an order using G-Cloud 12.

More comprehensive public sector customer guidance can be found on the Crown Commercial Services website.

What services are available?

The G-Cloud framework facilitates the purchase of cloud-based services only. These services are ‘off the shelf’, many pay-as-you-go cloud solutions.

There are around 35,000 cloud services on the G-Cloud framework to choose from. They are divided into the following categories (lots):

• cloud hosting – platform or infrastructure services for processing and storing data, running software or networking. For example, content delivery networks or load balancing services
• cloud software – applications that are accessed over the internet and hosted in the cloud. For example, accounting tools or customer service management software
• cloud support – services to help you set up and maintain your cloud software or hosting services. For example, migration services or ongoing support

How have the suppliers been selected?

All G-Cloud suppliers have:

• provided detailed information about their company and the way they work
• added information about the services that they offer including
  • standard pricing document
  • a service definition document (new requirement for G-Cloud 12)
  • supplier service terms and conditions
  • skills for information age card

What can you buy from G-Cloud 12?

Recommended for:

• off-the-shelf services
• short duration requirements
• benchmarking for business case purposes
• where ‘exit’ is primarily concerned with extracting your data

Not recommended for:

• requirements where a high level of people-based resources are required
• design and bespoke development – Digital Outcomes & Specialists (RM1043) should be used
• long contracts where there is a ‘lock in’ to a particular supplier
• extending contracts that have expired from other frameworks

Find out more

When buying a solution remember to follow the six step buying process on the Digital Marketplace.

The Government’s G-Cloud buyers guide can be accessed here.

Of course, [ui] UrbanPulse, the premier smart city urban data platform can be found here on the digital marketplace.