News Releases

Public Administration Select Committee endorses government use of small and medium size IT suppliers.

July 29, 2011

A recent report by a committee of MPs has recommended that government departments use more small and medium size IT suppliers in order to increase competition and bring down prices. The Public Administration Select Committee has found that government departments have been ripped off by a “cartel” of big IT firms paying as much as 10 times the commercial rate for equipment in some instances.

SilverBug has long promoted the fact that a focused approach to IT outsourcing and putting customers at the centre of its business always delivers a more cost effective and efficient solution for customers. “We only ever recommend solutions that we would be happy to put into our own business.” said Owen Daley, SilverBug’s managing director. “As a company that values honesty, along with a desire to build successful long-term relationships, designing commercially viable solutions for our customers is vital. This is one of the cornerstones of our company values.”

In the past it has been difficult for SMEs to approach government departments directly. The Government has now established the Innovation Launch Pad programme which is intended to address this concern. This scheme should enable SMEs like SilverBug to pitch business proposals for products and services they can provide to deliver better value for public money. SilverBug welcome the scheme, but as a one-off exercise it does not address the fundamental concern that SMEs have no permanent route which enables them to bring innovative ideas directly to Government.

Government will need to widen the supplier base by reducing the size of its contracts and greatly simplifying the procurement process to engage with innovative small and medium enterprises (SMEs). Most importantly, departments need the capacity to deal directly with a wider range of suppliers, especially SMEs. Only then will companies like SilverBug be able to deliver the same innovative and cost effective services to government that is has been able to deliver to the private sector since its inception in 2003.