Google Cloud latest tech company to strike deal with UK government

Google Cloud has today announced that it has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the UK Crown Commercial Service, which will make it simpler and more cost effective for the country’s public sector to access their technology.

 

Discussion between the two bodies has been ongoing since 2019, following the principles of the One Government Cloud Strategy, a series of convened workshops of senior commercial and technical experts from across government that took place earlier that year.

 

The now signed MoU will help remove the barriers to cloud adoption in the public sector, making Google Cloud’s full portfolio available, including the hybrid and multi-cloud solution, Anthos, which could be used to simply workflows across multiple clouds, as well as bestowing security benefits. 

 

The MoU also includes a discount on various Google Cloud services for public sector bodies if they meet certain criteria, such as a certain level of demand and expected spend.

 

"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," said Mark Palmer, head of public sector EMEA at Google Cloud. "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."

 

Google Cloud is the latest in a number of IT companies to have an increasingly close relationship with the UK government. Amazon Web Services provides services to the Ministry of Justice, for example, while Microsoft has deals with the BBC and the Department of Education. 

 

Google notably lags behind these two in terms of UK’s cloud market share, but this government agreement could go some way towards redressing that balance.

 

In similar news, US tech company Oracle also recently struck a major deal with the UK government, agreeing to help use its analytics to help achieve a cost saving of £1 billion over five years for the National Health Service Business Services Authority.