Channel quartet seals £100m of Scottish government deals

SBL, Misco, XMA and HP win spots on big new hardware and software frameworks

Nigh on £100m-worth of business has been handed out to a quartet of channel players by the Scottish government in two big systems and software frameworks.

Around the start of this month suppliers were confirmed on two frameworks: the National IT Hardware & Associated Services Framework; and the Software Licence Services framework, issued by Advanced Procurement for Universities and Colleges (APUC).

The hardware deal was split into five lots covering desktops, workstations, thin clients, notebooks and netbooks. All agreements are effective for 18 months, with two optional 12-month extensions which could take the total contract lifespan to three and a half years.

The desktop lot, which is worth an estimated £55m plus VAT, was snaffled by HP, which beat off competition from 10 other suppliers. The vendor also triumphed in the workstation and thin-client lots, worth £2.5m and £4m respectively. The netbook lot, which is valued at £2.5m, was won by XMA.

Online VAR Misco won the day in the notebook lot, which the framework issuers estimate could be worth £15m plus VAT.

Sandy Price, general manager of Misco UK, indicated that becoming the sole supplier of notebooks to the Scottish government is a milestone for her company.

"As a leading IT supplier to the public sector with a strong focus on computing, Misco is ready to embark on this new journey during which we will be able to demonstrate our strengths as an IT reseller while fulfilling the Scottish public sector's IT requirement through innovative and cost-effective solutions," she added.

Also handed out this month was an APUC software licensing framework which will allow the 28 further education establishments that are part of the Scottish Colleges Consortium to buy Microsoft products collaboratively.

The agreement, which is worth an estimated £3.5m excluding VAT, and could run for up to four years, has picked Software Box Limited (SBL) as the sole supplier. SBL beat off competition from three competitors to win the deal. A second lot, covering £1.5m-worth of Adobe licences, was cancelled before the tender stage.