Government Cloud

"Implementing new rules in public procurement is key to progressing accessibility in ICT, including cloud computing. The EU created an accessibility standard to help public administrations integrate accessibility in their procurement policies. It proposes a series of requirements that can be applied to a wide array of technologies used to deliver public services ranging from mobile apps to websites. Implementing the standard is a relatively easy fix for many of Europe’s problems in completing the Digital Single Market.

Digital transformation is absolutely crucial to any organisation whether public or private. It is at the very core of the digital single market to ensure Europe reaps the socio-economic benefits of new technologies. Cloud computing has the potential to reduce IT expenditure and boost organisational agility while at the same time improving the scope for delivering flexible high-quality new services.
This document describes the experience of ten public sector organisations across Europe who have either carried out a process to procure cloud services, or are considering doing so. The experiences vary in terms of success and offer insights into how the procurement of cloud services is impacting on their current processes. Read more...

Interesting blog post by Ivan Harris, 15 December, 2014.

"As we head into 2015, my expectation is that the pace of cloud adoption will grow at an even faster rate. To achieve that I think there are three areas suppliers and the G-Cloud team need to address in the year ahead.

UK Central government organisations are responsible for over three quarters of G-Cloud purchases on a value basis, with total sales through the framework since its launch reaching £345.6m as of October 2014. According to the latest Cabinet Office figures, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) have accounted for £184m worth of services sold though G-Cloud by the end of last month, amounting to 53.2% of all sales in terms of value. Large enterprises were responsible for the remaining £162m of public sector spending through the framework.