Channel toasts education framework success

Kelway, Lanway and Viglen bag spot on all five lots of Crescent Purchasing Consortium's new hardware framework

A total of 28 channel firms have bagged a place on a new further education Crescent Purchasing Consortium (CPC) framework.

The two-year Network Hardware and Services including Servers and Data Storage Framework will be used by CPC's 1,200-strong network of further education establishments across the UK.

It was formed by merging the Consortium's Network Hardware and Services Framework with its Storage and Servers one.

CPC members have purchased IT products and services worth more than £139m through these frameworks over the past three years.

Speaking to ChannelWeb, Gary Sadler, a senior contracts and procurement officer at CPC, said the consortium had merged the frameworks to speed up procurement times.

"A lot of the same suppliers were working across both frameworks, so it made sense to merge the two," he added.

The framework originally consisted of seven lots, but two were dropped and suppliers are still being sought for them. The missing categories cover backup and archiving, and network equipment and services.

Channel players Kelway, Lanway, Viglen and Dell were the only ones to bag a spot in all five lots, while Softcat, Misco and DTP garnered places in four.

Speaking to ChannelWeb, Darren Hedley, public sector director at VAR Kelway, said the firm has recently made a concerted effort to get on more public sector frameworks.

"We have been on a focused push. Eighteen months ago, we were featured on zero frameworks and now we have places on six, including Value Wales, Buying Solutions and the CPC Desktop Hardware and Peripherals Framework," he said.

Andy Bruen, Softcat's public sector frameworks manager, said its background in servers and storage technologies may have contributed to its success.

"The framework offers us an invaluable vehicle with which to shine in the wider education sector," he added.

A full list of the framework winners is below.

Lot 1 – Servers
BT
Dacoll
Dell
DTP
Ergo
European Electronique
Insight
Kelway
Lanway
Novosco
Pervasive
Softcat
Stone
Vdotcom
Viglen

Lot 2 – Enterprise Storage
B2Net
BT
Centerprise
Dacoll
Dell
DTP
European Electronique
Insight
Kelway
Lanway
Misco
Pervasive
RM Education
Softcat
Viglen

Lot 5 – Security Hardware
B2Net
BT
CAE Technology
Centerprise
Dell
European Electronique
Freedom
Kelway
Lanway
Misco
Novosco
Pervasive
Scalable Comms
Viglen
XMA

Lot 6 – Maintenance and Support
CAE Technology
Centerprise
Dacoll
Damovo
Dell
DTP
European Electronique
Insight
Kelway
Lanway
Misco
Pinacl
Softcat
Stone
Viglen

Lot 7 – Consultancy
ADA Networks
BT
CAE Technology
C-Ways
Damovo
Dell
DTP
Kelway
Lanway
Misco
OCF
Pervasive
Softcat
Stone
Viglen