Auth0 named to G-Cloud 12 framework for fourth year in a row

Auth0 has once again been named as a supplier in the Cloud Services category of the G-Cloud 12 framework, part of the United Kingdom's official Digital Marketplace for the Public Sector. G-Cloud accreditation prequalifies Auth0 to participate in public sector tenders for critical software and security services. It is the gateway to servicing government departments (such as HMRC) and non-governmental organizations (such as Homes England and the NHS).

This is the fourth year in a row that Auth0 has achieved G-Cloud accreditation, demonstrating Auth0's commitment to the vital public sector. This accreditation ensures continued access to Auth0's world-class security platform for public sector organizations in the UK.

What Is G-Cloud 12?

The G-Cloud 12 framework helps ensure that public sector organizations have the ability to make informed and competitive choices in choosing cloud service providers (CSPs). The platform's internal marketplace of pre-negotiated service terms provides transparency on CSP pricing models and allows the public sector to avoid negotiating per-product contracts. This significantly streamlines the tender process, providing a base level of legal protection and pricing benchmarks for public sector entities.

The framework clearly outlines pricing structures, security protocols, cost, platform compatibility, and more, serving as a central repository that makes it easy for public sector organizations across the UK to assess the cloud-based software tools available to them.

G-Cloud 12 encourages organizations to make the best choices for their own use cases, allowing them to use implementations that might not be feasible through a traditional government procurement system. As in the private sector, public sector software needs aren't one-size-fits-all, and pre-approved pricing structures make it easier to try software on any scale. The G-Cloud hub is a vital resource helping the public sector update their workflows faster and more cost-efficiently.

As the UK Government moves to better serve the public by making online services more available, protecting user identity is a critical security priority. Building identity solutions themselves can tie up valuable resources and expose public sector entities to risk, so they are moving toward utilizing standardized solutions such as those offered by Auth0. These offer world-class security, reduce risk, and free up internal resources for other key tasks.

For example, the West Midlands Fire Service (WMFS) is one of the few government departments in the country with its own in-house software development team. WMFS has been a leader in creating award-winning digital applications, including Tymly, a low-code, an open-source software platform that allows businesses to create and use flexible applications to gather, process, and distribute data.

However, rather than spend months building its own authentication system for Tymly, WMFS chose to outsource it. WMFS used the G-Cloud framework for its search, ultimately choosing Auth0's Identity-as-a-Service (IDaaS) to provide GDPR-compliant, cloud-based authentication for the Tymly platform.

Using Auth0, WMFS can implement multi-factor authentication (MFA), biometrics, single sign-on (SSO), and social login to provide ease of access and the high level of security needed for public sector data.

Recent Changes to G-Cloud Frameworks

The G-Cloud 12 framework is the 2020 update of the cloud services portion of the UK's Digital Marketplace, the central hub for approved services and suppliers operated by the Crown Commercial Service (CCS) since 2019.

The latest iteration is largely similar to G-Cloud 11, but with a few changes.

New this year is a requirement that suppliers who hold or work with government data need to meet "buyer requirements in respect of AI ethical statements." The Government Digital Service (GDS) has joined with the Office for Artificial Intelligence (OAI) to offer guidance on using AI in the public sector, with the goal of making sure "the public sector is leading from the front in the safe and ethical deployment of AI and other emerging technologies."

This year, G-Cloud 12 also requires in-depth service definitions for each listing explaining the service and how it works — something that Auth0 has always provided for its G-Cloud listings.

G-Cloud 11 features about 4,200 suppliers and nearly 31,100 services, both an increase over G-Cloud 10. CCS has tracked spend data since the inception of G-Cloud in real-time via an online dashboard.

Benefits of Identity Management in the Public Sector

The UK public sector has been criticized for being reactive to new technologies, which often doesn't take into account the complexities and sheer scale of public sector requirements. The G-Cloud regime is an ambitious program designed to help streamline the procurement of best in class CSPs — which, in the world of identity, means Auth0.

Identity and access management are clearly critical issues for almost all public sector organizations, but adhering to the constantly changing standards is difficult when an organization is locked into a rigid software stack. Having the flexibility to pursue up-to-date software helps organizations nimbly respond to changing security needs and threats.

Auth0's ability to identify and protect against ever-evolving security threats and our agile development methodology ensures that our customers have accelerated access to security updates and enhancements. With our continued presence in the G-Cloud market, public sector organizations can also benefit from our expertise in this area.

Our continued G-Cloud accreditation underscores our commitment to democratizing access to our software and mainstream security practices, much like the platform itself aims to improve accessibility and choice for the UK public sector.

Auth0's Mission

We believe that world-class security protections don't have to be reserved for elite companies or users but should be applied in broad contexts and accessed on platforms such as G-Cloud 12. Auth0's mission is to provide users with secure access to any application with one click or less. Whether you're a public sector organization, a small business owner, or a security-minded user, Auth0 helps ensure that you can access the most up-to-date security standards with low overhead and a seamless user experience.