With government commitment to SMEs and several access routes, including the G-Cloud framework’s online marketplace ‘CloudStore,’ the public sector market is now within the reach of small businesses.Is it a market worth getting into?Conducting business with public bodies represents a significant opportunity for all businesses. In the most recent fiscal year the public spending total was £729 billion, split between £560 billion spent by central government and £169 billion spent by local authorities. A large proportion of this expenditure is spent on goods and services and an increasing proportion of these services are IT based. Accessing this market can be difficult for SMEs, as many think public sector contracts are out of their reach.Working for public sector bodies can be extremely beneficial for SMEs. Transparent tendering, detailed information, fair processes, strict adherence to contractual terms and payment on time are just some of the benefits companies conducting business with public bodies enjoy. There is also a vast range of public bodies that can potentially become customers for small businesses. Local Authorities, Emergency Services, the National Health Service, the Armed Forces and Universities are all public bodies that small businesses can benefit from establishing good commercial relationships with. Central government bodies like the Ministry of Defence, HMRC and the Transport Department are also in need of a wide range of goods and services, both specialist and otherwise. The government’s commitmentThe government is committed to enabling small businesses to compete successfully for public sector contracts. Encouraging the UK SME base to take on public sector contracts stimulates the economy, as SMEs are extremely significant in terms of their contribution to output and employment. SMEs operate in all sectors of the economy, performing a range of functions that are continuously expanding. More than 27,800 small and medium sized businesses deliver more than 33% of the total commercial contribution to the UK economy. Across the ‘EU four’ (UK, Germany, France and Italy), the mid market represents about 1.5% of all companies, yet it generates more than 33% of private sector revenue, employing the same proportion of the countries’ workforce. The usual method public bodies operate when purchasing goods and services is by tendering. The public sector body provides an outline of its requirements so that all potential suppliers can bid with the details and cost of their solution. The main reason for this is fairness and visibility. The process is open for scrutiny and review and offers each participating company a chance to compete equally, as well as finding the best value for money solution. This process allows small businesses to compete with larger organisations for government contracts and prevents long-term deals being made without competition.Access routes The Government initiative ‘Contract Finder’ is a free online service that enables SMEs to search for all government contract opportunities worth more than £10,000 and some worth upwards of £100,000. The service also offers a host of email alerts, e-books and advice on securing public sector contracts. The service also shows the range of sub-contracting opportunities to work with larger businesses that have already secured high-value government contracts. It is ideal for small businesses looking to move into the public sector market, as it offers advanced searches that can specify location, the type of work required and how much the contract is worth. Along with Contract Finder, there are a number of other places small businesses can look for public sector contracts. For small businesses that are seeking to expand their business reach across the EU, the Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU) lists a great deal of the contracts available, with the added benefit of a wider range of opportunities. Tenders Electronic Daily (TED) is an online supplement to the OJEU, which can be accessed free of charge to search for up to date opportunities and register for live updates. The Small Business Research Institute (SBRI) is a more unique facility, as it lists challenges set by public bodies for SMEs to come up with innovative solutions for specific problems that current solutions cannot solve. As well as presenting these opportunities, the SBRI also offers funding, partnerships and future support to the small businesses that want to undertake the challenges.Some methods of bidding for public sector opportunities can take a long time to complete. Official processes can have set time tables and complex projects could take years to arrange before work can begin. SMEs can offer the best value for moneyTherefore, even if a small business can offer the best value for money solution, it needs to be certain it can go the distance before committing to the project. The idea of a long, drawn out process can put some businesses off the idea of public sector contracts, but for businesses that provide IT services, particularly cloud-based services that will already match the requirements sought after by public bodies, implementation time may not be such a big concern.A short cut for IT service providersThe Government has committed to all new and redesigned public services conforming to the ‘digital by default’ service standard, estimating potential public sector savings of more than £1.7 billion each year. This initiative represents a significant opportunity for IT service providers that want to enter the public sector market. The new G-Cloud initiative encourages all public sector bodies to purchase IT products and services on a ‘pay as you go’ basis from several accredited suppliers, rather than entering into long contracts with single large IT providers. Small IT businesses that can offer their services on this basis are in a unique position to benefit from this recommended format.With the G-Cloud format, public sector bodies are encouraged to purchase required services from a range of different providers, mixing and matching as necessary. This approach means that public bodies can benefit from a combination of niche products, from different specialist providers and at different preferential prices. Not only does this approach drastically reduce expenditure, but it allows more businesses to benefit from public contracts, stimulating the economy, facilitating innovation and supporting local businesses. The G-Cloud framework’s online marketplace ‘CloudStore’ catalogues more than 13,000 cloud based services. If an SME IT service provider has a cloud based service that it wants to available to public sector bodies on the CloudStore, the service goes through OJEU tendering beforehand. This simplifies the process and shortens the time it takes for future deals to become operational. The public sector organisation can therefore avoid the overheads of further tendering and can purchase directly from SMEs with no delay. Whilst there has been a lot of uptake from central government bodies, local authorities have been under utilising the CloudStore. Despite this, SMEs have netted 57% of the total spent through G-Cloud. Local authorities are committed to supporting local businesses and are under aware of the effectiveness of G-Cloud at realising this opportunity to do so.G-Cloud represents a short cut for smaller IT firms that offer cloud-based services to penetrate the public sector market without having to go through some of the longer procedures needed to secure contracts. If local businesses want to expand into public sector contracts, they need to make the most of this this key market. Go for itThe local IT SME community has a responsibility to support local authorities in fully utilising G-Cloud and advertise its availability. Making G-Cloud a successful platform will further demonstrate how effective the mid market in the UK and the rest of Europe is in supporting the public sector. This will lead to increased governmental commitment to support the SME community by creating further access to public sector contracts, for a wider range of service providers. Simon Shorthose has been ReadSoft UK’s Managing Director since 2009.
Visit link:
Industry voice: How an SME can get into into the Public Sector Market?
Industry voice: How an SME can get into into the Public Sector Market?
No comments:
Post a Comment