Cloud Compute

All public sector organisations can use this agreement to fulfil their public cloud computing needs directly from cloud service providers.

Updates

22/02/2023: We have extended this agreement for 12 months. It will now expire on 3 May 2024. This is so users can continue to buy and sell from the agreement while we work on providing the replacement: Cloud Compute 2.

We intend for Cloud Compute 2 to go live in December 2023. Supplier applications to Cloud Compute 2 are intended to open in early May 2023.

Description

We designed this agreement to work alongside G-Cloud 12 and all future iterations of G-Cloud agreements. It will run from 4 July 2021 for two years and will end in 2023. You will then have the option to include 2 extensions of up to 1 year each.

This agreement is available to the whole public sector, but is mainly for customers who prefer to contract with Cloud Service Providers directly. By using this agreement you will have the opportunity to access:

  • competitive value for money
  • a robust set of terms and conditions that meets central government commercial policy objectives

Cloud Compute mainly offers services that are either Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) or Infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS).

PaaS provides platform tools needed to create applications that will provide a service over the internet (as well as other things).

IaaS provides compute, storage, networking and other hardware capabilities. This means you are able to change the size of the services you need to suit any changes in demand at short notice.

For more information on PaaS and IaaS, read the National Institute of Standards and Technology’s (NIST) Definition of Cloud Computing.

Tools that will immediately support your service needs are also available. For example, you can also access security configuration and compliance monitoring services.

Benefits

  • terms and conditions tailored for hyperscale (very large public cloud platforms) services, ensuring better protection and better understanding, and meets central government commercial policy requirements
  • terms and conditions that reduces the need for long negotiations.
  • direct award and further competition routes to market, which allow for savings in time and money
  • flexibility in the services that may be offered by suppliers, making sure that the latest services are always available to customers
  • initial call-off term of up to 3 years with two possible extensions of up to 12 months each
  • reduces the need for customer to buy hyperscale compute services every 2 years through G-Cloud

Carbon Reduction

All suppliers for this agreement have committed to comply with the Procurement Policy Note 06/21: 'Taking account of Carbon Reduction Plans in the procurement of major government contracts' as required. If a supplier is required to publish a carbon reduction plan, you can find it on their individual supplier details page.

Products and suppliers

There are 7 suppliers on this agreement

Lot 1: Cloud Compute

Expires:

7 suppliers

How to buy

See an up to date list of the suppliers on this agreement. This is a single lot framework.

Before using this agreement, you will need to read the customer guidance. This document includes detailed information which will help you to select the right award procedure for your needs.

Premarket engagement

Pre-market engagement is an essential step in any procurement activity and we recommend that you include enough time into your procurement project to carry it out.

There are two ways to buy from this agreement. These are:

  • further competition
  • direct award

For details on the award procedures, read Framework Schedule 5.

Before running a further competition, you will need to:

  • develop a clear Statement of Requirements
    • this should include: the associated evaluation criteria, a draft order form (completed as far as possible), and the proposed time frame and stages for the further competition
  • share this with each supplier and invite them to propose a solution which meets your stated needs and provides associated pricing details
  • specify a clear deadline
    • we would suggest a minimum of 2 weeks for simple needs based on catalogue content and up to 4 weeks for needs that are more complex
    • maximum timescales shouldn’t be longer than six weeks
  • keep each tender confidential until the time limit set out for the return of tenders has ended
  • evaluate supplier responses (make sure you evaluate all suppliers equally and fairly)
  • award your call-off contract by sending the following to the successful supplier:
    • a completed and signed order form (to be accessed on the catalogue or requested from the supplier, as applicable)
  • provide unsuccessful suppliers with written feedback on why their tenders were unsuccessful using the unsuccessful supplier letter
  • publish your contract on contracts finder for transparency purposes

There is no prescribed format or template for a statement of requirements, but, CCS will provide guidance on best practice around it shortly.

We advise you to follow your own internal processes and seek your own legal advice when selecting which optional schedules are relevant to your specific needs.

Direct award

To direct award under this agreement you should:

  • develop a statement of requirements
  • contact the suppliers using the details published on their catalogues in the Basware’s Marketplace for buyers (CCS eMarketplace)
    • if this is your first time using eMarketplace you will need to register for an account
    • to read guidance for the eMarketplace, ask the team
    • apply the statement of requirements and your selected criteria to each supplier’s catalogue content to evaluate and determine which services best meets your need
    • relevant sections of the supplier’s website, that are within scope of the agreement, forms part of their catalogue content. Their website may better describe the services, pricing and present useful total cost of ownership calculators.
  • award your call-off contract by sending the following to the successful supplier:
    • a completed and signed order form (to be accessed on the catalogue or requested from the supplier, as applicable)
    • publish your contract on contracts finder for transparency purposes

Direct awards will be priced based on maximum agreement rates at the time of the award.

In Cloud Compute, both direct award and further competition offers very good value for money. Some customers may benefit from considering whether they can get better value for money through a further competition before placing a direct award.

Documents