MARKET REPORT Vertical Markets
Selling in the Public Sector
In this series of features we will be looking at industry verticals the Channel is serving with a view to determining,
this month, the opportunities, challenges and market movements which are impacting those partners selling into
the Public Sector
One year ago, it was
government.”
All the contracts for products
and services awarded can be
seen on the www.gov.uk web
site in fully transparent quarterly
reports including individual
contract values and details of
the supplier. is includes the
G-Cloud framework, Digital
Outcomes, Services and
Specialist Frameworks.
Prospective suppliers can get
on a framework list by applying
on line at the same site which
also holds the master list of
approved suppliers the public
sector can look up when they
are seeking quotations etc. If
it sounds easy to get on the list
then that would be misleading
but it’s the same process for
everyone.
Austerity
One of the things austerity has
driven hard in recent years is
greater commercial awareness
within the buying communities
across the public sector.
A former CIO and senior
leader across central and local
government, now the owner
and managing director of his
own consulting business, says
he often get asked by vendors of
all shapes and sizes to help them
improve their ‘market position’.
ese questions invariably
start with the following:
• Our product is unique in the
market;
• We can help public
organisations achieve
EXPERIENCE SIP Phones from SOS
01403 224450 www.soscommunications.co.uk
announced that the
Government and other
public sector organisations
had spent more than £3.2bn
on digital, data and technology
services since 2012.
e gures were released as
part of the need for transparency
in the workings of the Digital
Marketplace - created in 2014
by Crown Commercial Service
(CCS) and Government
Digital Service (GDS) to make
government procurement easier
and more transparent.
At the time, Niall Quinn,
Director, Technology Strategic
Category for CCS said, “In
the three years since Digital
Marketplace was launched,
we have overhauled the public
sector procurement landscape,
harnessing the expertise of
innovative companies and
giving thousands of SMEs
the opportunity to supply to
government for the rst time.”
Warren Smith, Director,
Digital Marketplace, added,
“We’ve started to bring the tools,
techniques, technologies and
culture of the internet to public
procurement and contracting.
What we’ve achieved so far is
testament to an amazing team
and the importance of usercentred,
design-led, data-driven
and open approaches, but we’ve
only scratched the surface. e
period to 2020 will see a stepchange
where these approaches
are mainstreamed across
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signicant savings with our
product/s;
• We enable service
transformation;
• Who do we need to reach to
secure sales?
But all too often our start
points are:
• Why are you unique?
• How can they cash-in those
savings and what will it cost to
release them?
• Who do you think needs to
transform and why?
• Do you understand how
the public sector and, in
particular, the various sectors
within it work?
• What about the customer
(residents, businesses -
taxpayers)?
How difficult is it to become an
authorised supplier to public
sector organisations?
Bernie McPhillips, Sales Director
at Pangea says that despite what
many people may think, selling
to the public sector isn’t vastly
dierent to private organisations.
“It’s still all about being in the
right place at the right time, with
the right product that solves a
problem.
at said, the supply chain
in public sector organisations
can appear rather complex;
much more so than their private
counterparts, where sales cycles
tend to be shorter and involve
fewer stakeholders.
ere’s a number of ne
details that need to be grasped to
succeed in the bidding process
and high-level procedures. If you
lack the ability to do this, don’t
be afraid to nd help—either
paid for, or from a government
advice service.
And nally… patience is a
virtue! Developing relationships
with public sector companies
is generally very rewarding,
as many are keen to develop
strategic partnerships and enter
long-term agreements with
/www.gov.uk
/www.soscommunications.co.uk
/www.commsbusiness.co.uk