The G-Cloud framework was introduced to improve competition among suppliers to the public sector by levelling the playing field for everyone pitching for government business. The problem is that a framework is not the most effective way to achieve this – it is simply the wrong strategy. Meaningful business relationships are not formed within a procurement framework.

You don’t create new business opportunities for others by putting up barriers between those who are already working together. Something Harley Davidson and the many other victims of the current US-China trade war know all too well!

 

Forcing existing business relationships to procure through a new framework does not automatically encourage them to look for new suppliers. They will simply be encouraged to find ways to work around the framework or bypass it altogether. This is because business is, and always has been, conducted through relationships. You cannot undo a good business relationship by forcing in a new system. There is simply not enough of an incentive for public sector purchasers to use the G-Cloud, so a lot of business continues to be done outside of the framework.

The G-Cloud platform is also challenged on a technical level. 

 

Users of the G-Cloud will testify that it is unwieldy and difficult to navigate, while its search engine often fails to match contracts to the most relevant suppliers. 

 

People expect search engines to work in 2018. They also expected them to work back in 2012 when the first G-Cloud was launched. People expect search engines to deliver results in an order that reflects their relevance to the search criteria. The search results in the G-Cloud do not appear do this – they do not appear to be in any discernible order. 

 

At the same time, the filters do not reflect the types of services that buyers want today, such as change management and digital transformation. With 2,847 suppliers on G-Cloud 9, for example, how are public sector buyers expected to find the right supplier for their need? They put out a search, get overwhelmed by too many suppliers – many of whom are not related to their business need – and are then unable to meaningfully prioritise them effectively. So, what do they do? They either pay a third party to find the right G-Cloud approved supplier for them – and if you have to pay someone to help you use your own tools, then those tools are clearly broken – or they pick up the phone to the supplier who helped them last time. A supplier that may not even be on the G-Cloud.