Bullish Insight eyes public sector growth in 2015

Reseller wins a place on lucrative GP framework

Insight is hoping to win a place on a number of government frameworks next year as its public sector unit continues to rocket.

The reseller recently bagged a spot on Lot 2 of the lucrative General Practice Systems of Choice (GPSoC) framework, which when first tendered for was expected to be worth between £325m and £1.2bn.

Last year, the government shook up the way the NHS is structured in the UK, giving GPs more control over what they procure. Insight's head of public sector Jon Lang said winning a place on the GPSoC framework is great news for the reseller.

"Our job and opportunity here is to look at doctors' surgeries and enable them to maximise the features of the patient-admin systems and to make sure they get the right level of support," he said.

Over the past year, Insight's public sector business has gone from strength to strength, Lang said, adding that at the moment, it is on 23 separate frameworks.

He said there are a number of high-profile frameworks on which he is keen to get Insight accredited next year as his unit continues to grow.

"We are growing and the public sector has been very buoyant for us," he added.

"We see that because we have extended our market opportunity by getting on frameworks. In 2015, that is front and centre of our strategy. There is a number of [frameworks] coming up for renewal and I would be disappointed not to increase our market reach by extending the number of frameworks we are on. It is key to our strategy."

The onset of next year's general election has sparked nervousness in the channel, as some players expect pre-election purdah - a six-week period before polling day when the public sector goes dark - to set in and push back key frameworks.

Lang admitted this was a concern for the year ahead, but was optimistic that it would not be a significant problem for the channel.

"[Purdah] will put projects on hold, but it just means there will be a delay, so it will be shortlived," he said. "I don't anticipate next year being more difficult, just part of it will be a bit more challenging - [sales] will just shift forwards or backwards."