Bidding delays hit channel business

About 15 suppliers are believed to have been selected for each of the three Lots

Channel players fear the to-ing and fro-ing over the new £6bn government commodity IT hardware and software framework could cost them business in the run up to April.

Procurement body Buying Solutions finally informed resellers of the outcome of the pre-qualification questionnaire (PPQ) assessment in the run up to Christmas.

The process was heavily delayed after Buying Solutions received appeals from some of the suppliers it originally deselected in October, and had to rescore submissions.

It is believed that 15 resellers have been shortlisted for each of the three Lots: desktop hardware, IT infrastructure hardware and specialist channel partners for software. They have until 26 January to submit their bids and the framework agreements should be awarded by the end of February.

After allegedly missing out first time around, Dell is thought to have made it through after the bids were re-scored.

One successful candidate, who wished to remain anonymous, feared the delays could hit its revenues in the run up to the end of the financial year.

“We have conversations with public sector customers who want to place bids with us before April but can’t until this process has been completed,” he said.

“We have had to do a lot of work to make it through to this stage and there is no guarantee of getting business volumes.”

Dell refused to confirm its involvement in the three-and-a-half year framework, saying in a statement: “Dell does not comment on rumour or speculation when involved in any partner, supplier or customer negotiations.”

Alan Watkins, managing director of Teksys, said: “I can confirm we are bidding and look forward to the conclusion of the exercise.”

Another successful candidate laid the blame for the delays at the door of the resellers that had used their right to appeal, rather than Buying Solutions. “Although there is probably less chance to make money out of the new framework, I actually thought the process was okay,” he said.

Buying Solutions said in a statement: “Although [the re-assessment] caused some delay and inconvenience to the suppliers involved, our overriding concern is to ensure the quality and integrity of the procurement is maintained throughout the process.”