The G-Cloud 12 agreement is due to come to end at the end of September, to be replaced by G-Cloud 13. Health Business examines the changes in G-Cloud 13, which is still focussed on the procurement of cloud-based computing services

It has recently been announced that the updated G-Cloud 13 agreement has been delayed. According to Crown Commercial Service (CCS), the reasons for this are that CCS are working to make their agreements easier to use and provide a better experience for their customers, so they are developing a new digital service. Following user testing, feedback and insight was provided that needs to be examined further before the launch of G-Cloud 13.
    
CCS said: “We appreciate that this will be disappointing for many of our customers and suppliers, but are confident that delaying the launch is the right thing to do and will allow us to go live later in the year with an improved digital experience.”
    
In the meantime, G-Cloud 12 is still live, any live procurements can continue, and any new procurements can be seen through to award. No launch date has been given for G-Cloud 13, the only indication given by CCS is “later in the year”.
    
Despite the delay, G-Cloud 13 will at some point replace G-Cloud 12.

Coverage
The framework covers buying cloud-based computing services including hosting, software and cloud support, with many off-the-shelf, pay-as-you-go cloud solutions included. The new framework will continue to provide cloud hosting and software services, as well as associated support services to the UK central government departments and all other public sector bodies, including the NHS.
    
The new agreement will initially run for 12 months with the option to extend for a further 12 months. The call-off term in G-Cloud 13 has changed to 36 months with the option to extend for 12 months.
     
Prior to the launch of G-Cloud 13, CCS ran supplier and customer surveys, and held a supplier event and 1-to-1 supplier interviews in order to understand the needs related to buying, consuming and implementing cloud storage. In December 2021, an RFI was published to Lot 3 suppliers to gather feedback on Lot 4.
    
As an updated framework, there will be changes to the previous version. These changes include improved terms and conditions, with greater inclusion for the provision of day rate cloud support services; inclusion of the latest procurement policies, including social value and prompt payment and the introduction of a fourth Lot for further competition for Cloud Support Services for larger, more complex requirements.
    
The scope and application process for Lots 1-3 will not change and suppliers are reminded that they can apply for any combination of the four lots.

Lots to see
Lot 1 includes Cloud Hosting (PaaS, IaaS) and covers cloud platform or infrastructure, which enables buyers to deploy, manage and run software, and provision and use processing, storage or networking resources. Services covered by this lot include: archiving, backup and disaster recovery; compute and application hosting; container service; content delivery network; database; NoSQL database; relational database; data warehousing; load balancing; logging and analysis; message queuing and processing; networking (including Network as a Service); Platform as a Service (PaaS); infrastructure and platform security; distributed denial of service attack (DDOS) protection; firewall; intrusion detection; protective monitoring; search; storage; block storage; and object storage.
    
Lot 2 is Cloud Software (SaaS) and includes applications which are accessed over the internet and hosted in the cloud. Services covered by this lot include: accounting and finance; analytics and business intelligence; application security; collaborative working; creative, design and publishing; customer relationship management (CRM); electronic document and records management (EDRM); healthcare; human resources and employee management; information and communication technology (ICT); legal and enforcement; marketing; operations management; project management and planning; sales; schools, education and libraries; software development tools; transport and logistics.
    
Lot 3 covers Cloud Support to help set up and maintain cloud software or hosting services. Services covered under this lot include ongoing support; planning; quality assurance and performance testing; setup and migration; security services and training.
    
Lot 4 is an addition to the framework and is for further competition for Cloud Support. The scope is the same as that of Lot 3, but is designed for larger and more complex requirements which are procured through further competition.

Information for suppliers
All suppliers of cloud services can apply to sell on the G-Cloud framework, suppliers do not need to be based in the UK.
     
As a supplier, even if you already sell on G-Cloud 12, you need to reapply to sell on G-Cloud 13, as all G-Cloud 12 services will be removed when G-Cloud 13 services are live. As a supplier, you will be able to reuse your G-Cloud 12 declarations and services, but suppliers are urged to check these responses and update them if necessary. Service documents will need to be uploaded again. New suppliers will need to create an account on the Digital Marketplace.
     
With regards to submitting a tender for G-Cloud 13 Lot 4, existing suppliers will not be able reuse their G-Cloud 12 service and declaration documents for Lot 4.
     
When applying for G-Cloud Lots 1, 2 or 3, suppliers will need to provide a pricing document (including volume discounts and data extraction costs, what is not included in the price and the prices for extra services) and a terms and conditions document specific to that service (note the terms and conditions cannot be changed while the framework is live). A service definition document should also be provided including information such as: what the service is: the levels of data backup and restore, and disaster recovery you’ll provide, such as business continuity and disaster recovery plans; any onboarding and offboarding support you provide; service constraints like maintenance windows or the level of customisation allowed; service levels like performance, availability and support hours; after sales support; any technical requirements; outage and maintenance management; hosting options and locations; access to data (upon exit) and security.
    
Due to the delay in the launch of G-Cloud 13, G-Cloud 12 remains live. Most aspects of the framework remain the same between the two versions and G-Cloud 13 is merely an updated and improved version, rather than a dramatic change. Because of this, the changeover should be relatively smooth. As the launch is delayed, it is hoped more information on the Framework will be available at a later date, though it is not expected for there to be many changes to get to grips with.