To better understand the views of Small and Medium Size Enterprises (SME's) operating in the public sector tech market, techUK has undertaken a comprehensive survey to capture their experience on the ground. The survey provided a fascinating insight into a small business's view of the public sector tech market.
According to techUK, their survey confirms the following points.
- the Government is on the right track, but that more needs to be done. There is overwhelming support for the Government's new target to award 33% of procurement spend, both directly and indirectly, to SMEs, with 90% of respondents supporting the new target.
- G-Cloud has been particularly well received by smaller suppliers. 80% said it had helped them access the market. However, the survey highlights there is more to do if Government is to meet its target of 33% of procurement spend going to SMEs.
- There is widespread concern that public sector commissioners are not making sufficient use of all the tools at their disposal. 86% of SMEs said that civil servants need to make more of the Digital Marketplace, and there was a lack of awareness of the initiatives such as Mystery Shopper and Contracts Finder, that are directly aimed at the SME market.
- Skills and culture remain a barrier to adoption. 96% of respondents did not think that civil servant buyers have a good understanding of how SMEs can meet their needs. This echoes techUK's own civil servants survey , commissioned earlier this year, which showed 33% civil servants were uncertain about working with SMEs.
- Surprisingly, late payments was ranked of least concern as a barrier to entry, despite government focus in this area. Instead, SMEs clearly called for initiatives to target the onerous procurement process (67%), risk averse culture (59%) and onerous terms and conditions (33%).
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