back to article Crown Representative: SME biz is huge... but I don't have exact figures

The Crown Representative for SMEs is talking big about working with small tech suppliers, but even he can't detail in a transparent way the exact financial benefits of doing so. SME flag-waver Stephen Allott blogged that at the end of October, 20 months since launch, 56 per cent of the £63.46m transacted on CloudStore, a web …

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  1. Otto is a bear.

    1/2 Price IT

    I wouldn't want to be an SME dealing with government or large business, nor would I want to invest in one, but then I know how capriciously they are treated by both government and business.

    Just wait till the Department for Administrative Affairs decides to cut 10% from all it's suppliers, regardless of how good their deal is anyway. There is a big difference between talk and actions, no Minister is going to say take 10% off our costs, except for SMEs, they won't even consider them, even if it's policy, and neither will the purchasing functions when looking for cuts. In fact it's easier to take from an SME than it is from an SI or OEM.

    1. TheOtherHobbes

      Re: 1/2 Price IT

      "my impression is that savings of between 25 per cent to 75 per cent are not uncommon when using SMEs."

      This is a quangocrat with no idea what he's talking about, who is - to use the technical term - pulling numbers out of his arse.

  2. Colin Millar

    If SME suppliers are half the price of traditional suppliers

    and the contract doesn't go Pete Tong then the SFO should be popping round for a word with those traditional suppliers

  3. Kaffy

    Big fish and small fry - yum!

    Most of the SME turnover claimed anyway is via the big boys: they have to declare how much of their subcontracting is with SMEs, and this percentage is then passed through as a 'result'. Hence the delight of Crapita or similar when their subbies are less than 250 people or less than €50 meelion: they can show the Govt that SMEs are doing fine, and the Govt can go on to claim SME-friendly procurement figures.

    1. Peter Gathercole Silver badge

      Re: Big fish and small fry - yum!

      One wonders whether this includes any single person contracting companies that many IT contractors work through.

      If it does, then the figure is mightily misleading, because it will not indicate any change in anything other than how it is being counted.

  4. wikkity

    Servo?

    Or maybe Serco?

  5. Alan Brown Silver badge

    "El Chan has often asked government to detail the ways in which it breaks down the savings from SMEs, but have never been given an answer."

    You could try making the question an explicit FOI request.

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