Dell claims £6bn framework could still offer "routes to market"

Harrison: Dell is actively looking to establish routes to market through the CITHS framework

PC giant Dell has claimed it will still look to "establish routes to market" through Buying Solutions' £6bn commodity IT framework, despite not being chosen as an official supplier.

The chosen suppliers were finally formally unveiled this week, with 12 firms selected for desktop hardware provision, 13 picked for infrastructure hardware and 10 chosen in the software lot. Dell, along with other channel heavyweights including IBM, Centerprise, NEC, BT, Bytes and XMA, did not feature anywhere in the framework.

In a statement issued to CRN, Dell's UK channel country manager Paul Harrison claimed the vendor would continue to work in the public sector through existing frameworks. He added that the new Commodity IT Hardware and Software (CITHS) framework could yet provide opportunities.

The statement read: “Dell can confirm that it is has not been selected as an incumbent supplier on the new CITHS framework, but will be able to supply public sector customers directly through ICT Goods & Services framework until the end of April 2010 (and beyond through existing contracts), and is actively seeking to establish routes to market through the new CITHS framework to ensure that public sector customers are still able to benefit from Dell’s best-value solutions.”