Cabinet Office minister Francis Maude has said he wants" government's major IT suppliers to work with SMEs, mutuals and joint ventures in new contractual arrangements" He states that on average public sector procurement takes twice as long as the private sector and that by working with SMEs, time and money can be saved.

Maud promises that major suppliers will need to reconsider their approach to large projects and use open source technology where possible. He recently met with chief executives and senior representatives of 31 of the government's key technology suppliers and told them it was a crucial part of the government IT agenda to involve SMEs in more government business.

A new online feedback form has recently been launched to encourage SMEs to share their experience of public procurement. Already many business have stated that it is an impossible market to break into,that they are penalised just for being a smaller company and that the amount of paperwork and costs involved are proving too restrictive.