Selling technology to government: G-Cloud and the technology frameworks

If you sell cloud hosting, software or technical support, the fastest route into the public sector is usually not a one-off tender. It is a framework. The best known is G-Cloud, a standing agreement that lets any public body buy listed cloud services from approved suppliers without running a full procurement each time. Around 90% of the suppliers on it are small and medium-sized firms, so the door is genuinely open to smaller technology companies.

This guide covers what G-Cloud is, what you can sell through it, the other technology frameworks that sit alongside it, and the practical difference between getting listed and actually winning work.

What G-Cloud is

G-Cloud is a framework agreement run by the Government Commercial Agency (formerly Crown Commercial Service), the government's central buying organisation. Suppliers apply to be appointed; once approved, their services appear in an online catalogue that public buyers search and buy from.

G-Cloud runs as a numbered series that is refreshed roughly every twelve to eighteen months. G-Cloud 14 is the live agreement through 2026; its successor, G-Cloud 15, was tendered over the winter of 2025 to 2026 and is due to be awarded and go live on 17 September 2026, running for four years after that. Because the numbers move on a cycle, do not treat any single version as permanent: check the Government Commercial Agency website for the iteration that is currently open before you plan an application.

Two things make G-Cloud different from an ordinary tender. First, it is a catalogue, not a competition for a single contract: you are listing services at fixed published prices, not bidding for one named piece of work. Second, most buying on it happens by direct award, which changes how you should sell (more on that below).

What you can sell: the lots

G-Cloud is divided into lots, and you apply to the ones that fit what you offer:

• Cloud hosting (infrastructure and platform services): compute, storage, networking and the platforms that run on them.
• Cloud software (software as a service): applications the buyer accesses over the internet rather than installs, from case management to analytics tools.
• Cloud support: services to help buyers set up, migrate, configure and run cloud services, such as implementation, training and ongoing support.

Recent iterations have also added a separate lot for larger or more complex cloud support that buyers run as a competition rather than a straight catalogue purchase. What you cannot sell through G-Cloud is bespoke development or a fully outsourced service team: those belong on the frameworks described next.

Each service you list needs a clear service definition, a pricing document and supporting terms. Buyers filter the catalogue on price, features and standards, so vague descriptions get filtered out before a human ever reads them.

Other technology frameworks, and when to use them

G-Cloud suits off-the-shelf cloud services. When a buyer needs people or a build rather than a product, other Government Commercial Agency frameworks apply:

• Digital Outcomes and Specialists (currently DOS 7) is for agile delivery teams and individual digital, data and technology specialists: user research, design, software development and similar roles. It replaced the earlier Digital Outcomes and Digital Specialists agreements.
• Technology Services (currently Technology Services 4) is for larger transformation programmes that bundle hosting, application support and maintenance across a longer engagement.

The key contrast for a supplier is how work is won. On G-Cloud the main lots are bought by direct award with no further competition. On the outcomes and services frameworks, buyers run a further competition (a mini-competition) among appointed suppliers, so you write a short proposal and price for each opportunity. Pick the framework that matches how you actually deliver, and be prepared to sit on more than one.

Listing on the framework versus winning a call-off

This is the point most first-time suppliers miss. A place on a framework is permission to be bought, not a sale. The real contract is the call-off: the individual purchase a buyer makes under the framework's terms. A catalogue full of your services that produces no call-offs earns you nothing.

How the call-off happens depends on the route:

• Direct award (the G-Cloud main lots). The buyer searches the catalogue, compares listed services against their requirement, and awards to the most advantageous option that meets their needs. There is no negotiation and no bid to write. You win or lose on how findable, clearly described and competitively priced your listing is.
• Further competition (Technology Services, Digital Outcomes and Specialists, and G-Cloud's complex-support lot). The buyer invites appointed suppliers to respond to a specific requirement. Here you do write a focused proposal, but the qualification stage is already behind you, so it is lighter than an open tender.

Treat the cost of getting listed as marketing spend, then budget separately for the effort of getting found and winning call-offs.

What buyers look for

Public technology buyers are risk-averse and evidence-led. Whether they are scanning a catalogue or reading a mini-competition response, the same things move the needle:

• Security and assurance. Cyber Essentials or Cyber Essentials Plus, ISO 27001 where relevant, and clear data residency and data protection arrangements. Public bodies handle sensitive data and will not shortlist a service that is vague on this.
• Clear, honest pricing. Published day rates or subscription prices that a buyer can compare without a sales call. Hidden costs are a common reason a service is passed over.
• A precise service definition. State plainly what the service does, what is included, what is not, and the standards it meets. Buyers filter on keywords and features, so write for search as well as for the reader.
• Proven delivery. Short, specific case studies with named outcomes, ideally in the public sector, reassure a buyer that you have done this before.
• Social value and accessibility. Many buyers weigh wider benefits and expect services to meet accessibility standards, so evidence these rather than asserting them.

Where the Procurement Act 2023 changes the picture

The Procurement Act 2023 came into force on 24 February 2025 and reshaped the plumbing. The most practical change for technology suppliers is registration. Suppliers now register once on the central digital platform, the enhanced Find a Tender service, and that record is reused across procurements. Applications to newer frameworks flow through this platform rather than the older separate application routes.

The Act also pushed more information into the open at every stage, including buyers' pipelines of planned work, and it standardised how newer frameworks are let and how awards are explained to unsuccessful bidders. Established G-Cloud iterations were set up under the previous rules and continue to run under them, so for a while you will see both regimes referenced. The direction is clear: keep your central digital platform registration current, because it is increasingly the front door to everything.

Practical first steps

1. Register on the central digital platform (the enhanced Find a Tender service) so your supplier details are ready before any application window opens.
2. Confirm the current iteration. Check the Government Commercial Agency site for the live version of G-Cloud, Technology Services and Digital Outcomes and Specialists, and note the next application window if the one you want is closed.
3. Prepare your assurance evidence now. Cyber Essentials, ISO certificates, insurance and data protection details are asked for repeatedly. Gather them into one folder so an application takes days, not weeks.
4. Write listings for how buyers search. Use the language a buyer would type, price clearly, and be specific about what is included.
5. Plan the stage-two effort. Once listed, monitor call-off invitations, respond fast to any further competitions, and study published award notices to see who is buying what.

Getting onto a technology framework is the easy half. The suppliers who do well treat the listing as the start, keep their assurance and pricing current, and make themselves genuinely easy to find and easy to buy from.