Government to invest £1 billion in cloud migration

Next phase of G-Cloud 14 framework

The UK government has awarded a £1 billion contract to a consortium of tech services companies to accelerate the adoption of cloud-based services across the public sector.

This move is part of the government's ongoing commitment to digital transformation and modernising public services.

The Crown Commercial Service (CCS) has announced the latest phase of the G-Cloud 14 framework (Lot 4), with 42 suppliers selected to provide a range of cloud services that include planning, migration, setup and ongoing support.

The latest award, worth up to £1 billion, brings the total value of G-Cloud 14 to £6.5 billion.

The CCS launched G-Cloud 14, the latest iteration of its cloud computing framework, last month. The new framework aims to further simplify the procurement process for public sector organisations and provide increased opportunities for SMEs.

G-Cloud 14 offers a range of cloud-based services, including hosting, software and additional support services.

"G-Cloud continues to be a great public sector success, offering significant opportunities to a large number of SMEs and providing an easily accessible marketplace to access cloud computing services," Philip Orumwense, commercial director and chief procurement officer for technology at CCS, said at the launch last month.

"This new iteration demonstrates CCS's ongoing commitment to safeguarding the buying process for our customers as we work to unlock the full power of procurement," he added.

Seth Finegan, UK CEO of Informed Solutions, a supplier on G-Cloud 14, noted: "As a scaling data science, AI, and digital technology provider the value of G-Cloud as an effective marketplace has been substantial.

"Through G-Cloud we've been presented with opportunities to bid for and win nationally significant digital transformation contracts for essential cloud-based services that are used by millions of people every day in an increasingly connected and converged world."

G-Cloud 14 will run for 18 months, with contracts lasting up to 36 months and potentially extending to 48 months.

While the government is obviously committed to cloud adoption, concerns have been raised about potential vendor lock-in and the complexities of migrating large-scale IT infrastructure.

The Cabinet Office's Central Digital & Data Office (CDDO) has acknowledged these challenges and says the current approach risks limiting the government's negotiating power with cloud providers.

To mitigate risks, the government highlighted the importance of careful vendor selection and strategic planning.

"Government's Cloud First policy is kept under regular review to ensure it reflects the latest guidance and recommendations and states that organisations should always scrutinise their selection of vendors," a government spokesperson said earlier this year.