Software Box guns for MoD after DE&S victory

Defence Equipment and Support contract renewal will complement recent Buying Solutions success, York-based reseller claims

Boxing clever: Software Box claims DE&S deal will allow it to provide most appropriate procurement vehicle to its customers

Software Box Ltd (SBL) has hailed a double public sector victory after bagging Buying Solutions and Defence Equipment and Support (DE&S) contracts in quick succession.

Two months ago, SBL was one of 10 VARs to make the grade for the software Lot of Buying Solutions’ £6bn Commodity IT Hardware and Software (CITHS) framework.

The York-based reseller was also recently re-awarded an Information Assurance contract with DE&S, the Ministry of Defence’s procurement arm. This kicked off on 1 May.

SBL said it is the only firm to hold both contracts, meaning it can promote the “most appropriate and best-value procurement vehicles to its customers”.

Claire Gannon, group sales & marketing manager at SBL, said: “SBL looks forward to a continuation of excellent service to our existing customers under the DE&S contract and to working with the Buying Solutions community, to enable greater cohesion and innovation between SBL, the contracting authorities and our customers.”

However, not all public sector suppliers still see the value in the DE&S framework.

The managing director of one VAR which did not compete for DE&S - who wished to remain anonymous - claimed the introduction of CITHS had rendered it virtually obsolete.

“They may be technically correct to say they are the only one on both, but it doesn’t actually give them any competitive advantage,” he said.