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.

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.”