Stone and Toshiba forge rock-solid universities pact
European Electronique makes way for Stone on Lot 2 of NDNA framework
Stone Group has hailed the "adventurous" nature of the higher-education IT market after being picked by Toshiba to represent it on two Lots of a £300m universities framework.
The PC builder and reseller has begun working with Toshiba on the third, ‘one-stop-shop' Lot of the National Desktop and Notebook Agreement (NDNA) framework, which is accessible to over 200 colleges, universities and research council bodies.
This follows Stone's appointment as a reseller partner by Toshiba to Lot 2, covering notebooks, in July, in place of one of Toshiba's three incumbent partners, European Electronique.
According to recent research by CRN, Dell, Viglen and Apple are the top-three IT suppliers among UK universities, with Stone placing 16th.
The double victory means Stone is now representing Toshiba, Samsung and Acer - as well as its own-brand desktops - through the framework, which was last let for a minimum of three years in July 2013.
Daley Robinson, group marketing director at the Staffordshire-based firm, said supplier changes of this nature are unusual because they require the blessing of the NDNA board, which comprises representatives from the universities.
"The NDNA is by far and away the most popular framework among universities buying IT hardware. It's very powerful, because of the democratic nature of the board," Robinson said.
Stone was initially only representing itself and Samsung before Acer added it as a reseller on Lot 2 last March and Toshiba came knocking this summer.
"It's rare for this amount of change to happen in a three-year contract period and it's great we've been given the opportunity to broaden the range of products and services we can offer universities," Robinson said.
On Lot two, Toshiba previously worked with XMA, Academia and European Electronique, the latter of which CRN understands has made way for Stone. For Lot three, which allows clients to procure all their desktops, notebooks, tablets and services from one supplier, Toshiba also works with XMA.
Stone said it and Toshiba have already secured Newcastle University and the University of Sunderland as customers off the back of their partnership.
Robinson paid tribute to the "adventurous" purchasing habits of higher-education institutions.
"In a research setting, quite often they need high-end devices to crunch the numbers," he said. "They tend to want high-performance devices, so they tend to adopt new technologies quickly and they have an insatiable desire for the latest and greatest."
A Toshiba representative said in a statement: "We can confirm we have recently revisited our NDNA partner line-up and welcomed Stone Group. European Electronique remains a valued and trusted partner for Toshiba and we are working closely together on a variety of projects, and will continue to do so in the future."
European Electronique did not respond to our requests for comment.