Switch nets Catalist badge

Reseller Switch Communications has become one of a select band of companies awarded a Catalist Framework Agreement by the Office of Government Commerce (OGC), which it hopes will enable it to win more public sector contracts.

Written by Sam Trendall

Managing director Andrew Terry told CRN his company had already done a large amount of work in the public sector and had invested a great deal of time and money in going through a rigorous 18-month accreditation process.

Switch now sits alongside integrators such as Damovo and Affiniti in being accredited by the OGC. Terry said: “Our name is up there with some very large organisations. We will be seeing opportunities that we might not have seen before.

“Small organisations have more to offer at times than a large organisation. Our key differentiator is that we have our own carrier business.”

The government recently indicated it planned to award 30 per cent of all public sector contracts to small firms and Phil McCabe from the Forum for Private Business said: “The target would appear to be achievable, but the complexity in public procurement is getting no better.”

reader comments

related articles

Government

A Budget breakthrough?

Alistair Darling’s first ever Budget as chancellor seems to be a positive one from an SME perspective 13 Mar 2008

 

OGC denies eAuctions are unsuitable for VARs

But smaller companies say that tendering is still a difficult and often frustrating process 25 Jul 2008

Public sector outsourcing contracts "failing"

Government departments guilty of overspending on outsourcing 10 Apr 2008

BSF contract cycle too slow

VARs have called on the government to make the bidding process for Building Schools for the Future (BSF) contracts less onerous. 20 Mar 2008

latest news

Wightman pushes collaboration message to Cisco channel

Cisco's new channel chief reveals collaboration focus as top partners herald her arrival 08 Aug 2008

Channel muses Ofcom probe into BT practices

Investigation into carrier’s channel practices could lead to a fairer market 08 Aug 2008

Formjet plays down conflict fears

Vendor is keen to downplay worries of conflict with partners 08 Aug 2008

poll

Tough at the top?

Tough at the top?

Is BT abusing its dominant position in the market?

Previous poll results

In The Studio With CRN: Josh Claman, Dell

In an editorial coup for CRN, Josh Claman, vice president of EMEA channels at Dell, talks to CRN TV about the vendor's channel plans

CRN Fight Night bouts are LIVE!

ALL the bouts from CRN's first ever white collar boxing event at The Brewery in Chiswell Street, are now online in their full glory for CRN readers to watch.

events

CRN Golf Challenge 2008

CRN Channel Golf Challenge 2008

CRN's annual golfing day will this year be held on 16 September at a championship course in East Sussex

CRN Reseller Leadership Forum logo

CRN Reseller Leadership Forum

An exclusive channel conference from CRN, to be held over one action-packed day in September 2008

Newsletter signup

Sign up for our range of FREE newsletters:

Existing User

Newsletter user login:

Advertisement

White papers

Search white papers

Top categories