Many UK public sector organisations are overpaying for AWS, even though the One Government Value Agreement (OGVA) offers substantially lower rates.
The challenge is not availability, it is awareness. Many departments are unclear on how to access OGVA and procurement pathways can feel opaque, so optimisation often slips to the bottom of the priority list.
This is not a sales pitch. It is a practical guide to an underused route to better AWS pricing and how a recognised reseller structure can help you unlock it with minimal effort.
Budget scrutiny is tightening everywhere. Cloud spend is under more pressure than ever, yet rate optimisation, meaning securing the best possible pricing for your existing services, often slips down the agenda because it is seen as overly complex or left entirely to technical teams.
OGVA was renewed in December 2023 for another three years, extending preferential pricing for public sector organisations. It delivers aggregated spend discounts that rival those secured by large commercial enterprises, without the need to rearchitect infrastructure or overhaul processes.
This is a budget lever that works quietly in the background but delivers real results.
The One Government Value Agreement is a three‑year Memorandum of Understanding between AWS and the Crown Commercial Service (CCS). It treats public bodies collectively as one purchaser unlocking better discounts on AWS services along with access to training funding and innovation credit schemes.
In practice you need to go through a qualifying AWS partner listed on frameworks such as G‑Cloud or RM6292 Cloud Compute 2 rather than purchasing directly from AWS. That extra step is often where public sector teams stall or stop altogether.
A number of organisations have achieved significant savings by accessing OGVA through structured reseller routes, without altering workloads or changing tooling.
| Benefit Area | Real world Value |
| Baseline discount |
Around 18% off standard AWS hosting pricing under the original OGVA agreement (UKAuthority, Computer Weekly) |
| Prepayment bonus |
Additional 2% discount when services are paid for in full upfront (PublicTechnology) |
| Real world example from Hackney Council |
Minimum 22% discount secured by committing to 8% usage growth per year (Computer Weekly) |
Some public sector organisations including universities and local authorities have cut AWS costs by 20 to 30 percent by shifting to a CCS‑approved reseller route and optimising their use of Reserved Instances and Savings Plans.
Cloud savings often come from smarter procurement, not from new tools or disruptive change.
If your organisation is still buying AWS in the standard way, this is your chance to revisit that route and treat reseller-delivered OGVA as more than just a framework — it is a lever for real savings.