Editorial

Advice Cloud rolls out new G-Cloud training package

IT procurement specialists to offer a special ‘all you need to know’ course aimed at smoothing the path between buyer and seller on The Digital Marketplace

Posted 19 October 2017 by Gary Flood


Brighton-based IT procurement specialist Advice Cloud says it wants to share what it’s learned over the years about how to make G-Cloud work better – for both buyer and seller.

And with a new online training course it’s put together called G-Cloud Supplier Essentials, it plans to do just that.

The course, its founder and MD Chris Farthing told Think Digital Partners, is a distillation of years of exposure to the real way the public sector actually sources IT.

That matters, as some suppliers still don’t seem to ‘get’ the way more and more are starting to use – the government’s official central buying mechanism for technology goods and services, The Digital Marketplace.

“G-Cloud is working really well, bringing procurement cycles down from 90 days to two minutes in some transactions,” he said.

“But the problem is that not enough suppliers have really wrapped their heads around what the sector needs and how to work with it via The Digital Marketplace,” he added.

Thus the course, compiled by Advice Cloud experts to explain to suppliers why G-Cloud is so different, and how it actually works in theory and in practice.

Farthing’s team seems to have the credibility to do that, as it has over 80 years of combined public sector procurement experience and recently brought on board ex-central government IT mover and shaker Tony Singleton OBE, the driver behind the Marketplace in the first place, and who was one of the main writers of the proposed G-Cloud Essentials training course.

“I wish we had this course back when I was the G-Cloud and digital commercial programme director,” is his claimed verdict on the package, which has roots in earlier training deliverables to techUk members.

G-Cloud Supplier Essentials is aimed at suppliers who:

  • are new to the G-Cloud framework
  • have been listed for a while, but have yet to make that crucial first sale
  • are listed and have sold already, but are looking to demystify G-Cloud to potential buyers that are still not familiar with the framework.

With no fixed start date, interested tech vendor sales teams can complete tthe course at a time that is convenient to them, and alongside theoretical and practical lessons, the course offers you the opportunity to test your knowledge through carefully crafted quizzes. A “range of additional resources” is also promised for candidates by Farthing and his team.

If you’re an IT supplier into the public sector, you might want to sign up for a Training Alert to get notified when the course is properly live and available to purchase.

You might well also be interested in hearing that there’s a 10% discount for anyone who signs up before the scheduled launch (October 25) – while for two weeks after go-live, you’ll be able to buy the course for a special promotional price at 50% of the full charge.

We think this sounds like a good resource, and would encourage anyone either on or thinking about The Digital Marketplace to check it out.