G-Cloud 9 Extended

A bombshell it is not (sort of saw this coming after what happened with DOS back in October) but now at least official, G-Cloud 9 has been extended.

With applications for G-Cloud 10 not expected until November 2018.

We are certainly not blind to the potential drawbacks this has both on the SME supplier community already on the framework (no changes to pricing!) or what this means for new innovative SMEs waiting for their chance to sell. And, yes we are planning to write something about this in due time. But for now, we decided lets not lament the news. Rather let’s start with the positives. Let’s continue onwards and upwards and see the opportunity the extension presents to those on the framework. Here are some of the opportunities for listed suppliers we can see:

• The chance to fine tune your listing without completely re-applying
• No new competitors will be landing on your doorstep (always a good thing!)
• More time to better understand the problems of the public sector and how your solution could be of assistance
• Get your organisation clued up on G-Cloud and how it works and how to use it
• Keep on strengthening those relationships with your public sector buyers
• Get your government marketing and PR message on point
• A chance to beef up your case studies and refine your Service Definition
• Get your sales team firing on all cylinders, as that supplier down the road that’s been talking to Joe Bloggs from X gov department now won’t be able to apply to G-Cloud for a while. You see where I’m going with this…

At Advice Cloud we are glass half full people and our esteemed MD Chris Farthing had this to say on the matter:

The above are just a few ways to spend your time and redistribute those valuable resources that would have otherwise been spent on re-listing.

For those who are eager to get listed, lets remember this is an extension and not the end of G-Cloud. In that time just think how many improvements CCS can make. Use this extension to really plan your strategy – both in terms of getting onto G-Cloud 10 and what to do after you are there. There is a lot of prep smart organisations do in the lead up. For example spend time determining the right public sector market for your organisation. This will positively impact on your listing – tailor it to that market. Or sink your teeth into planning an effective Sales and Marketing strategy. Getting on the framework is just half of the job. G-Cloud is not a source of inbound leads.

November will roll around in no time so if you need any help with the above check out our G-Cloud Support Services and get in touch. We are ready to lend a hand!