esynergy Solutions G-Cloud Buyers Guide Contents Page What is G-Cloud 2 Frameworks 2 Digital Marketplace the catalogue of services 3 Change Programme 3 Change in mind-set 4 Contracting 5 Change Journeys 5 Fast, Agile, Flexible, Iterative 6 Focus on Outcomes 8 Improving Services 8 Achieving Corporate Goals 8 Reducing Costs 8 How Should I use G-Cloud 9 What should it be used for? 9 What shouldn t it be used for? 9 What is the buying process? 9 Simple version 9 Actual process 10 What you shouldn t do 10 Who can help me? 11 G-Cloud Specialists 11 esynergy 11 Government and Online resources 11 How do I select esynergy 12 Who are esynergy 13 Benefits of using esynergy 14 Upskilling 14 Cost Saving 14 Agility and Flexibility 14 Supporting and Maintaining Services 14
What is G-Cloud? G-Cloud is commonly considered to cover 3 things: A set of procurement frameworks the current frameworks are G-Cloud 5 & G-Cloud 6 A catalogue of the services available from those frameworks presented through the Digital Marketplace A change programme to enable ICT to be procured, supplied to, and implemented differently by the Public Sector. Frameworks The frameworks cover 2 areas: 1. Cloud Services a. IaaS - Infrastructure as a Service (G-Cloud Lot 1) b. PaaS - Platform as a Service (Lot 2) c. SaaS - Software as a Service (Lot 2) 2. Cloud Related Services - SCS (Lot 4) a. Expertise/resource, for example: i. Strategy - approaches & journeys ii. Cloud adoption, transition, migration, integration iii. Project - PMs, PMOs, BAs, UE, Change iv. Technical: design, development, implementation, support, Open Source/proprietary technologies b. Companion technologies, for example: i. BI, Big Data, Security, Scalability ii. Load balancing iii. Analytics iv. SMS Utilising the technical elements of G-Cloud, IaaS, PaaS & SaaS are reasonably clear as they enable you to consume cloud computing resources whether they be virtual servers, cloud based storage, platforms for developing software or cloud based software products such as email, content management systems, learning resource systems, etc. What is not so clear is using the specialist or supporting cloud services. These are the services that enable you to consume those technical cloud services. Cloud computing is new to a lot of public sector customers and they may not have the expertise they need in-house to help them understand, plan or implement the transition to consuming cloud based services. This is where the SCS Lot 4 services can help. Here you can find the expertise to evaluate your current technical and organisational readiness, determine an effective strategy for your transition and plan your remediation and implementation activities. You may also need assistance with integration and migration relating to your existing ICT assets and of course those resources are available too.
Digital Marketplace - the catalogue of services You can search for services using keywords and categories at various stages of an initiative. Perhaps to understand whether any such services exist, to identify potential costs, to understand the various service levels they might be offering? These can inform your thinking about G-Cloud as a valid procurement route for your needs on each occasion. Other times you might want to understand the kinds of solutions on offer: whether there is one system/service that can do it, or if you need to be looking for a number of services to achieve your goals using integration. Then, you can also use it to procure your solution using the G-Cloud buying process, described later in the document. Explore, find what s on offer, read about the services, the costs & the terms for sale, talk to suppliers about their offerings (you can t affect what they offer as they are fixed at time of tender). Build your knowledge and buy the best-fit services for your needs. Change programme The change programme behind G-Cloud was derived from Chris Chant s Unacceptable speech that outlined a number of areas relating to ICT procurement and utilisation within the public sector that had to change. G- Cloud took the basis of that speech to outline principles for change where buyers and suppliers needed to: Think differently o Everything we do is not special o Utilise the closest fit to achieve value o Use solutions that allow us to follow our usage patterns - cloud computing (pay for what you use, not might need; pay as you go - 4 users or 100 users, not site license; 2 months or 6 months, not for 3 years up front) Act differently o Embrace agility, flexibility, best value, change when we change or our needs change o Fast, iterative projects that can change direction based on findings Deliver differently o Tell us what services you offer, how much they will cost and what terms they are offered under o Tell us all the costs we might incur for taking up your service, for using your service, for leaving your service o Short contracts that allow us to change when we need to o Tell us this openly and transparently o Treat us all as one customer but allow for the different kinds of engagement (big, small, high volume, complex, simple, etc.)
Change in mind-set The change in mind-set that these new approaches suggest can be demanding but also liberating. It asks you How do I think now? and explores What are the opportunities for thinking differently? How do I think now? o I must know everything I need in advance o The system must do everything I need in the way I need it to o What is my worst-case scenario going to be? Plan for that o What is my usage going to be over the next X years? Contract for that o How many bodies am I going to need? For how long? What kind of roles? o What will it cost if things change? How do I contract effectively for those possibilities? o Who can do all of those things and take responsibility for it? How could I think instead? o What are my desired outcomes? o What are my high-level needs? o What do I need to do next to find out more? o Who do I need for the next part of my journey? o Who is the best qualified/value supplier for each element of my change? o Use only as much as I need, when I need it The G-Cloud contracting and procurement model means you don't need to look for bodies to fill fixed term positions for the next 2 years, you can get the best resource for the next set of activities you identify for as long as you need them to take the initiative to its next stage. Using G-Cloud you can plan a stage at a time, proving concepts, bringing in the right resource at the right time, increase your consumption of those resources or stop consuming them depending on what you uncover. There are no change negotiations, you pay for what you use for as long as you need them (depending on the minimum term and notice terms of the contract of course). But remember, to run these cloud related projects, as well as needing those technical experts, you can also procure the supporting project resources to match the approach you have taken for running your projects. If you know you will need X amount of bodies for a defined period of time that might work on cloud based and non-cloud projects, you can still utilise the other frameworks you have always used. However, if those suppliers provide technical and project based resource under their offerings, you may find resources who are used to working in this manner, with these same technologies to reduce knowledge transfer times and speed delivery - the choice is yours, depending on what best suits your needs.
Contracting You don't need a long complicated tender to find a supplier, simply search, find candidate services, evaluate those that meet your needs then choose the right one for you (or more than one if you want flexibility of supplier or have different specialisms to deliver your outcomes). The maximum duration for a G-Cloud contract is 24 months but can be a short as a day if the supplier offers it. You can pay as you go and only pay for what you use, a bit like a utility contract at home. If you think you ll use 10 servers but end up using 100 because you initiative is so successful then grow as you need to. Conversely, if you think you ll need 50 servers but only use 25 because the utilisation is much better using cloud, then you only pay for what you ve used. At the end of your contract, you don t necessarily have to go to another supplier, they may still be the best value based on your new position and requirements (you ll have to check the catalogue again to make sure there aren t better value suppliers or who may offer a solution that better fits your needs), if so then contract with them again; if not, contract with the better value supplier. Remember, you can contract with 2 at the same time while you migrate or share risk; use whichever implementation best suits your needs, there will be plenty of experts who can help you with your decisions. Terminating contracts can be much simpler because of the overarching framework terms and conditions, but remember, if suppliers have had to incur an expense as part of providing the service to you, they may have termination charges to ensure they are not out of pocket - check their terms. This flexibility can assist you if one supplier is not working out for you or you find your needs are changing and they are no longer the right service for you. Change Journeys You might find yourself with a particular set of challenges to change from where you are now to where you need to be, you might summarise this as one of the following: Digital Transformation Technical Transformation Legacy Transformation Perhaps you have some services that you need transforming to digital in order to provide a better service, reduce costs or perhaps take a new direction? Well, using the benefits of cloud computing plus the contracting flexibility and agility of G-Cloud, and your newly embraced approaches to ICT projects can help you with that Digital Transformation journey. The services are available on G-Cloud, so long as it is cloud-related, you can procure the services from there.
Instead, you might have some infrastructure that is nearing end of life, or you are having difficulty maintaining and running it to the standards required for your services? The technical transformation to public, private or hybrid cloud is a common one undertaken by suppliers on G-Cloud. Again, G-Cloud can usually provide both technical and project expertise to run the transformation journeys at your pace and considering your current and desired positions. Legacy transformation can be one of the most difficult journeys to take as you attempt to disaggregate your existing systems, take advantage of the benefits of cloud-computing yet maintain an appropriate service level. Understanding and achieving the interim positions to achieve your desired state can be extremely challenging. However, there are organisations on G- Cloud who have experience in these journeys and while you find that expertise, you may need resource to assist supporting your existing technologies while you up-skill and utilise your existing resources for the new technologies. Both can be found on G-Cloud, but again, be careful how you utilise those G-Cloud resources, if you feel a different framework would be more appropriate for backfill then do consider them, but G-Cloud may offer backfill with the added experience of the new technologies as a benefit so do explore carefully. Fast, Agile, Flexible, Iterative The G-Cloud approach encourages: speed (of procurement and implementation), agility, flexibility and an iterative nature to your initiatives. It encourage you to utilise the right services for each outcome - the best of breed; change when your needs change or a supplier is not working for you; Use as much as you need only when you need it; Nowhere is this fast, agile, flexible & iterative approach embodied more than in the Try before you buy options available through G-Cloud. While there are certainly free trials available for certain G-Cloud offerings, you can also take advantage of the fact that you pay for what you use. Utilising the free trials is a great way of getting your users involved at an early stage, especially if they don't have a fully formed vision of what it is they need. You can trial the offerings before even shaping the projects to allow experiential learning to build or break visions in users minds - what work, what doesn t, what is simple and what is not. The next best thing is to buy a single license or utilise a single server for example. You can test the look and feel, the performance, the latency (waiting time before something happens) and start to form some factual input into your initiatives, before you commit too much to a project. You can try for one user, then grow to 10 more to prove to a wider community - and of course, if it is a fully blown success, roll it out to the whole organisation at the rate that suits you, only paying for what you consume, when you consume it.
And last but not least in terms of flexibility, you can stop things quickly if they are not giving the outcomes that you d anticipated. This failing cheaply may sound negative, but the ability to park a project to address a blocker, or stop it before you have fully committed money and resource if it isn't working, is just as important in saving public sector money than hugely successful implementations are.
Focus on Outcomes Improving Services Traditionally Government Departments have been run using tried and tested methodologies unchanged over many years including the use of large SI contract agreements. With the introduction of the Digital Marketplace and the movement towards the Cloud esynergy are able to offer Central and Local Government departments an alternative way of working. Utilising agile and iterative practices has enabled departments to improve their service offerings; open source and cutting edge technology has only exacerbated this. Achieving Corporate Goals Utilising the Digital Maketplace and G-Cloud enables you the buyer to more easily achieve your corporate goals. With the Government moving into the digital age adoption of G-Cloud enables you to change and adapt quickly. Reducing Costs Adopting the Digital Marketplace will dramatically reduce the overall costs of delivering your project and allow you to turn-on and turn-off services as and when they are applicable. Any call off contracts are limited to 2 years and you only pay for what you use.
How Should I Use G-Cloud? What should it be used for? Cloud & Cloud related services - outlined in Frameworks above Business transition initiatives for digital and cloud based services What shouldn't it be used for? Buying hardware - servers, end-user devices, printers, etc. Buying software licences for local installation Getting bodies to fill vacancies See the section on thinking differently to consider how you look at resources in a new way. A full time person or fixed term appointments are not appropriate for G-Cloud procurement. If you need expertise or a resource to assist your transformation initiative to work on cloud based projects (hosted in the cloud, developed for cloud readiness, etc.) then that is acceptable. You utilise them for as long as you need them and stop consuming them when they are no longer required. They can work on multiple projects if it makes sense to you and you have scheduled them appropriately. This can help continuity and share lessons & experience, or you can utilise different resources from different suppliers for projects if that suits you better. You have the flexibility to work in the way that best suits your needs. What is the buying process? The simple version of the factual buying process: Determine high level needs Search for suitable services in Digital Marketplace Long list candidates who look appropriate from brief review Short list candidates from in-depth review of long-list Select successful supplier/s o Engage - or not (engaging can be from a phone call to a presentation, to a proposal review) o Evaluate based on established criteria You may know these criteria at outset You may develop/enhance them as you find out more o Choose award method - MEAT vs Lowest Cost (Most Economically Advantageous Tender) Award to supplier/s o Contract for appropriate services
The actual process may look like: Research using the web (build your search intelligence) o For candidate products o For candidate suppliers o For key words & high level requirements Browse the catalogue o Searching using key words o Looking for trials o Determining which award method is most likely (i.e. there are lots that do everything I need so it will be lowest cost) o Determining the criteria weightings (MEAT - value other than cost) MEAT Sections Whole Life Cost Functional Considerations Non-functional considerations Service Management Valid considerations for MEAT Cost/time to up-skill staff or project members Cost/time of transferring / not-transferring knowledge Knowledge and skills retention / transfer Follow the factual buying process What you shouldn't do: Pick words that unreasonably eliminate qualified suppliers Pick criteria that unreasonably favours one or more suppliers The use of keywords for reducing the results returned can be challenging depending on what you are looking for. Like any procurement you should try to ensure you remain fair during the procurement. G-Cloud is far more flexible than most procurement routes and it may seem like a lot of work to evaluate a large number of returned services, but it is usually still far quicker than running a tender exercise, so don't be tempted to short-cut the process. Plus the added benefit is you are seeing the full list of services that could meet your needs, not just those who saw your advert and had the time to reply. With some practice, and sometimes with some assistance, you should be able to work out the words, phrases and exclusions that can reduce the results to a manageable set.
Who can help me? G-Cloud specialists Shape your thinking & understanding Help with influencing your processes & governance How you use G-Cloud Help you with your procurements o Teach you how to fish o How to contract effectively o Help with communicating internally o Help you engage with suppliers Legally Effectively esynergy Help with finalising contracts Help with shaping your vision & journeys Finalising your high level needs Help with suitable words, phrases and search terms for the areas you require solutions Government and Online resources Helpdesks Websites Blogs Useful links to some government resources are below: Digital Marketplace - G-Cloud Catalogue https://www.digitalmarketplace.service.gov.uk/ Digital marketplace Blog https://digitalmarketplace.blog.gov.uk/ Crown Commercial Service (CCS) Home Page: https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/crown-commercialservice G-Cloud Buyers' guide https://www.digitalmarketplace.service.gov.uk/buyers-guide G-Cloud 6 Framework agreement and call-off contract: http://ccs-agreements.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/contracts/rm1557vi G-Cloud 5 Framework agreement and call-off contract: http://ccs-agreements.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/contracts/rm1557v
How do I select esynergy esynergy are listed on the Digital Marketplace under Specialist Cloud Services (SCS) to support your transition to SaaS, PaaS and IaaS. Examples of SCS include cloud strategy, data transfer between providers or day-to-day support of cloud-based services. esynergy s transformation services falls under 3 banners: Legacy, Digital and Technology Transformation. Our services are delivered in such a way that we can assist on individual streams of work or across a whole programme of Cloud Transformation. Our core areas of expertise within Legacy, Digital and Technology Transformation are: Cloud Infrastructure Services Open Source Development Web/Dev Ops Database Testing Services BI & Big Data Services Architecture Product Management & Business Analysis Delivery & Project Management Helpdesk and Support Services (SIAM) Service Integration and Management (SIAM) Using varying search criteria will enable you to produce your initial long list to procure your respective outcome. Some examples are listed below: For a Digital Transformation project: "transformation" "digital" "cloud" This would bring up your long list from which to make your selection criteria For Open Source Development: "jboss fuse development This would bring up your long list from which to make your selection criteria For Business Analysis expertise: "iterative" "business analysis" "workshop" This would bring up your long list from which to make your selection criteria
Who are esynergy? esynergy Solutions are an SME with 50+ full time staff and a pool of dedicated associates. Since inception in 2001 esynergy have delivered technology focused innovative solutions to clients in both the private and public sector. Our focus is to enable change and transformation for business by utilising the latest cutting edge technologies in the market. We understand the need for change in organisations and then deliver acute technology enabled solutions to achieve a positive outcome. esynergy s transformation services falls under 3 banners: Legacy, Digital and Technology Transformation. Our services are delivered in such a way that we can assist on individual streams of work or across a whole programme of Cloud Transformation. Our core areas of expertise within Legacy, Digital and Technology Transformation are: Cloud Infrastructure Services Open Source Development Web/Dev Ops Database Testing Services BI & Big Data Services Architecture Product Management & Business Analysis Delivery & Project Management Helpdesk and Support Services (SIAM) Service Integration and Management (SIAM) Founded from the dot com boom at the turn of the century originally our focus was on pure web technologies. This approach served us well in helping customers transform the way they operate internally and interact with their customers online. Some of our early successes delivering technology innovation were for the likes of The Daily Mail Group, Salmon and Visa; we helped build online services for their customers enabling us to expand our portfolio to offer a wider range of services to cover not just Architecture, Infrastructure & Development but also Project Delivery, Product & Analysis, Testing, WebOps/DevOps, BI & Big Data. More recently esynergy have worked with the likes of RedHat, Guardian Newspaper Group and News International utilising these deliverables.
Benefits of using esynergy Upskilling At the heart of esynergy is our community; we run, host and sponsor user groups, webinars, meet ups and training sessions allowing our communities to network, share ideas and up skill. We partner with some of the most innovative Open Source organisations which allows us to offer our clients a blended model of qualified associates who have been built up through these communities. These include Chef, CloudBees, Puppet Labs, Neo4j, Docker, Skills Matter, MongoDB, AngularJS and RedHat. Cost Saving esynergy have access to a wide range of skills and abilities through our network of associates and communities. Savings can be created through our discounted upskilling model with various partners and open source vendors or via our ability to react fast to fluid market changes. Being at the forefront of technology innovation enables esynergy to have access to the best solutions. Agility and Flexibility esynergy adopt an agile way of operating with their clients to provide a flexible model of technology and resource outcome deliverables. esynergy have the ability to flex up and down resource, deliverables and outcomes quickly and efficiently with varying timeframes and goal past shifts. esynergy are always looking to improve efficiencies in conjunction with clients. Supporting and Maintaining Services All of the journeys discussed above will touch on one challenge you ll face - supporting these services going forward. Managing support for your customers and managing the suppliers involved in providing those services is paramount to a quality service. There will be new challenges to ensuring end-to-end service delivery SLAs (service level agreements). You may have more suppliers than you used to have, and you may have more support routes to manage. Done poorly, these can affect the benefits you enjoy from this new way of working and from cloud computing, but there are suppliers on G-Cloud who are working with these challenges daily and who are coming up with a range of approaches and solutions that may be appropriate for you. You can utilise their expertise in a number of ways, from developing strategies for support and maintenance, to taking responsibility for managing suppliers and end-to-end service levels.