Viglen wins 2 lots on Government Procurement Service G-Cloud III Framework
Viglen, a British IT company, has been accredited for inclusion on the Government Procurement Service (GPS) G-Cloud III Framework, supplying government IT departments within Lot 1, Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) and Lot 3 Software as a Service (SaaS) allowing public sector organisations to procure IT services more efficiently.
An innovative and stream-lined procurement process to make buying easier, the Framework is a pan-government collaborative agreement allowing public sector bodies in the UK to access cloud computing services, without a lengthy tendering process, using the new CloudStore. The Cloudstore is an online catalogue listing the details of each G-Cloud supplier and their services, making it easy for the UK public sector to buy cloud computing commodity and support services. The difference between G-Cloud and other frameworks is that users do not have to purchase hardware and software licenses, instead paying only for cloud-based services when and if they use them. It is a key component of the Government’s IT strategy, covering infrastructure, platform, software and specialist cloud services, and was developed to give public sector bodies access to pay-as-you-go services as a cheaper, more flexible alternative to traditionally sourced ICT.
The framework is split into four lots and was open to companies from all over Europe through an OJEU (Official Journal of the European Union) tender.
Working alongside platform provider Iomart, Viglen bid for two lots and was successful in both. Under Lot 1, Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) Viglen will offer storage and VM platforms, while Lot 3, Software as a Service (SaaS) covers back up, email archiving, email filtering, VMware view and web filtering.
Iomart Group is one of Europe’s leading cloud computing companies and has been listed on AIM (the London Stock Exchange’s international market for smaller, growing companies) since 2000. It is one of the UK’s most widely respected providers of mission-critical hosting services, enabling its global customers to reduce the cost, complexity and risks associated with maintaining their own web and online applications.
With a core focus on developing innovative and best value IT solutions and services, Viglen also has a proven track record in delivering traditional storage and solutions that support ‘Bring Your Own Device’ strategies.
Commenting on Viglen’s inclusion in the framework, chief executive Bordan Tkachuk said: “I’m delighted we have this opportunity to work with central and local government departments and other public sector bodies, including education institutions.
“Our inclusion in the G-Cloud framework demonstrates how well we have developed our cloud services portfolio, including VigCloud, our new Office 365 offering for education, and our portfolio as a whole, in line with new technological developments to meet all the demands of the public sector, while still maintaining a quality and cost efficient offering.”
Cloud computing has been described as the next stage in the Internet's evolution, providing the means through which configurable computing resources, including networks, servers, storage, applications and services, can be accessed conveniently and on demand from anywhere. By storing IT resources in the cloud, users can make huge savings in space, time, power and cost.
Central government departments are now mandated to consider public cloud first in any IT procurement and the wider public sector is ‘strongly recommended’ to take the same approach. In practice this means that when considering procurement of new or existing services, public organisations must have considered and fully evaluated potential cloud solutions before they consider any other option.
“G-Cloud has shown itself to be a model for efficient public sector IT procurement, establishing a dynamic marketplace for cloud-based IT services,” said Minister for the Cabinet Office, Francis Maude. “We have simplified the procurement process through G-Cloud to make it more accessible to a wider range of companies, leading to more choice, better value for the taxpayer and growth for the economy. Suppliers are asked what they can offer government, rather than being issued with complicated specifications that stifle innovation.”
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