Singleton Claims Corporations Aren't Forcing SMEs Out

The UK government’s plan to get more SMEs (small and medium-sized enterprises) selling cloud services to the public sector is paying off, says the administration, despite fears that larger companies are coming back to dominate.

G-Cloud sales have reached £467 million so far, V3 reports, adding that some 50 per cent of the sales were made by SMEs. It seems though as larger enterprises are muscling their way in, even though G-Cloud director at GDS, Tony Singleton disagrees.

Singleton, G-Cloud director at the Government Digital Service (GDS), said at CloudExpo in London on Thursday that G-Cloud is a clear success for SMEs, which account for 87 per cent of the 1,852 suppliers on the Digital Marketplace.

“G-Cloud has helped the growth of small businesses,” he said, claiming that some SMEs have doubled their workforce as a result of being on the G-Cloud framework.

V3 asked Singleton about the fact that large enterprises now take up 50 per cent of G-Cloud sales, and he said that other metrics should be considered when analysing the data to build up a more accurate picture.

“It’s interesting to look beyond the [sales value] figures. When you actually look at the volume of transactions, two-thirds are going to SMEs, which anecdotally suggests that the largest suppliers are charging more [for cloud services].”

“It’s about continually reducing barriers, making it easier for SMEs to go onto the marketplace,” he said.

In early February, total G-Cloud sales have passed £430m after deals worth £37m were made in December.