Government is to unify the two separate systems used to submit bids to join the G-Cloud framework after complaints the process is too confusing.

A “mystery shopper” process conducted by the Crown Commercial Service (CCS) recommended a number of improvements to the process.

According to a document released by CCS, its recommendations for improvement have been accepted by the Government Digital Service and will be implemented in time for the tender process for G-Cloud 7, which is due to launch next month.

The CCS mystery shopper report said: “A mystery shopper raised concerns that the process for submitting a bid for G-Cloud 6 was overly complex as suppliers were expected to provide submissions on two separate systems. “The enquirer was particularly concerned that the process for submitting a service on the GDS platform did not make it clear when a service had been formally submitted.”

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However, although the report said that instructions for using the two systems are “clear and appropriate to the audience of IT suppliers”, it “did consider that having two separate systems added additional complexity to the process”.

Previously, suppliers have had to submit responses to mandatory questions via the CCS’s eSourcing suite, while submitting other information to the GDS’s Service Submission Portal.

The report said that GDS has also accepted a number of further recommendations to improve the usability of the latter’s platform which emerged from the mystery shopper review.

The government is expected to add nine new categories to the next iteration of the G-Cloud framework.

Figures released at the end of last month showed that government sales through G-Cloud nose-dived in May, down almost a third on the April total.