The UK Crown Commercial Service (CCS) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Google Cloud to make it easier and more affordable for UK public sector agencies to leverage Google Cloud services to increase innovation and deliver digital transformation.
Simon Tse, Chief Executive of CCS said:
"CCS provides commercial agreements which help organisations across the entire public sector save time and money on buying everyday goods and services. This MoU with Google Cloud unlocks large-scale business benefits for our customers, and demonstrates CCS's role in helping the public sector serve UK citizens in more innovative ways."
CCS, the UK Cabinet Office executive agency and trading fund, had already recognised the scope for collaboration and innovation enabled by cloud services and had been looking to open up the cloud services market to more suppliers to provide the best value and terms for public sector agencies investing in cloud technology. Google Cloud has now confirmed a discount for qualifying public sector bodies based on aggregated cloud service demand and expected spend.
CCS engaged Google Cloud in 2019 to discuss requirements for cloud services under the One Government Cloud Strategy, a joint initiative between Cabinet Office, CCS and Government Digital Service.
This agreement removes barriers to cloud adoption for all eligible UK public sector organisations, such as government departments, local councils, arm’s length bodies, NHS bodies, public funded broadcasters, and charities. This will allow organisations to take full advantage of a range of technologies across Google Cloud, including infrastructure, analytics, artificial intelligence, application modernisation and development, and collaboration solutions.
The MoU also contemplates access by UK public sector agencies to Google Cloud’s managed and serverless offerings, including its comprehensive hybrid and multi-cloud solution, Anthos, to easily manage workflows across multiple clouds and on-premise. Anthos will not only equip these organisations with world-class security tools to protect data and meet government compliance standards, but also drive operational benefits such as avoiding costly vendor lock-in.
Google Cloud and CCS will also focus on providing support for UK SMEs who partner with public sector agencies, no matter where they are in their cloud adoption journeys.
Mark Palmer, Head of Public Sector EMEA, Google Cloud said:
"This is a significant milestone for us, as we see the results of our focused investment in cloud services and solutions primed and tailored for the public sector. The UK public sector is a major focus for Google Cloud, and this is an opportunity to further support Her Majesty’s government in their digital transformation.”