By Simon Quicke11 September 2008
Resellers selling into the public sector should find it
easier to compete against large rivals under changes made to the Zanzibar
Supplier Agreement.
The Office of Government Commerce and ProcServe have
enhanced the procurement process focusing tenders on a value for money basis as
well as changing the supplier agreement to provide greater chances for smaller resellers.
In a statement, Robert Knapman, director of ecommerce at
OGCbuying.solutions, said that the supplier agreement had been a barrier to
entry for some potential players because “it led to higher insurance costs for
suppliers and may have discriminated against smaller suppliers”.
He added that the government had issued guidance about
opening up contracts for competition and these changes also matched those
requirements.
ProcServe has helped build the online system that links
public sector orgainsations with the chance to buy services and products that
are designed to be the best value for taxpayers.
In the past there has been criticism voiced by resellers
trying to sell into the various strands of the public sector that only large
incumbent suppliers tended to get through the tender process.
When projects have run into trouble, most recently with the
NHS, the channel has been vocal about the service it could have offered as an
alternative.
