Tech firms on cloud nine with government contracts

Two Scottish technology companies have secured places on the latest UK government framework to provide cloud computing services to the public sector.

Public sector work is of 'huge importance' to Edge Testing Solutions, said founder Brian Ferrie. Picture: Chris Watt

Bellshill-based Edge Testing Solutions and Glasgow’s Iomart have been selected for the framework, dubbed G-Cloud 9, following a “highly competitive” procurement process.

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Brian Ferrie, founder and chief executive of Edge Testing, said the deal was of “huge importance” to the firm, which has worked on previous frameworks and counts the likes of the Scottish Prison Service, Student Loans Company and South Ayrshire Council among its public sector clients.

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He added: “Not only is it a validation of our hard work for public sector clients through the existing schemes, but it also points the way forward for the business.

“We have been expanding our public sector business enormously year-on-year, reaching 40 per cent of our turnover in 2016, and that is a figure we look forward to growing in 2017.”

Under the new framework, Edge Testing will add “big data”, along with device testing and test “healthchecks”, to its existing suite of public sector services.

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Meanwhile, Aim-quoted web hosting specialist Iomart, another major player in the public sector field, said it had won places on all three lots – cloud hosting, cloud software and cloud support – covered by G-Cloud 9.

Chief executive Angus MacSween said: “As we have seen recently with the WannaCry ransomware attack, there is a growing global threat to IT infrastructure. It is important that all organisations within and outwith the public sector take cyber security much more seriously.”

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