Why do you need to be excited about the G-Cloud, especially the latest incarnation Giii, the third version of its core procurement framework?

Simple. It provides a game changer in IT procurement – by which I mean something SMEs can get involved in, providing cloud based services to the public sector.

Let’s put this in context. You may have come across us  SynApps in the context of our work in the NHS, where we are helping Trusts extend their existing imaging databases to become the foundation for something equivalent to the long-awaited electronic patient records.

But that’s only part of what we offer the UK public sector with our involvement in the G-Cloud. In specific terms, what you could get from us buying our services this way is the Public Sector IT buyer, a range of cloud-based business solutions covering document capture, document management, case management and records management. To find out more, we are listed under IaaS, SaaS and Specialist Cloud Services, with our three most prominent partners: secure cloud infrastructure specialist Skyscape, EMC and Alfresco. Our customers tell us that one of the major benefits of contracting with SynApps is our agility and focus – we are 100% focussed on delivering ECM solutions to the UK marketplace.

We believe that there is a strong momentum for cloud services in government right now, and across the board. The programme is geared up to connect SMEs into one of the biggest and most important of all British ICT marketplaces. This is in stark contrast to what it has been for years, which is a playground for the large Systems Integrators.

They are still going to play a role of course with this customer base, especially for big systems work; but some doors have genuinely been opened for companies of our size. This is great for the taxpayer, as speed of procurement will be much shorter for a cloud solution than for an on-premise one.

This is a great development for us as a supplier, for our partners, customers and for the UK too.