With the recent announcement of G-Cloud project director Chris Chant’s retirement at the end of this month, coupled with his public criticism of the implementation of the project, it’s clear that the G-Cloud is facing difficulties.

The G-Cloud was conceived as a programme in order to radically change the way in which the public sector operates with ICT, and create a competitive marketplace for sourcing Cloud software contracts. It was developed in order to provide economic savings and increase efficiency through a flexible system. The G-Cloud in providing a competitive marketplace was designed to encourage suppliers to increase the quality and value of their services.

While the G-Cloud has seen the adoption of the framework across much of the civil service and the use of included services such as Cloud email, progress has been limited by public sector hesitance to fully utilise its services. The implementation of the G-Cloud has been hindered by CIOs failing to properly utilise the full benefits of the program.

Chant prior to his resignation stated that departments had continued to enter into costly and ineffective contracts with large companies. CIOs have failed to effectively source contracts or utilise the broad range of cloud computing suppliers provided through the G-Cloud, or take advantage of SMEs in order to increase savings and reduce risk of project failure. This reluctance to fully employ the competitive benefits of the G-Cloud has hindered the progression and modernisation of ICT within the public sector.

The G-Cloud also faces limitations imposed by security concerns. Chant expressed on his blog that Government policy “allowed our users to suffer with IT that is a decade – or more – behind what they are using at home.” His replacement Home Office IT director Denise McDonagh, faces multiple obstacles to overcome in the continued development of the G-Cloud. There are signs of light from within the public sector as attitudes begin to change. The economy has brought pressure on departments to ensure that contracts are of better value and quality.

In the coming months McDonagh will be getting to grips with a framework that requires the involvement of IT SMEs to ensure the success of the G-Cloud. Chris Chant his written that CIOs are starting to become more flexible, and that the days of poor value services from large corporations are numbered. The success of the G-Cloud rests heavily on the Public Sectors own flexibility in its application and in offering competitive contracts to a wide range of users.