The first event, held in May, was positively received with 100 percent of attendees saying it was useful, well-timed and presented, and that they now intended to pursue public sector opportunities. Computer 2000 has also been driving business development through its dedicated public sector team. Since the start of this year, the company has engaged with close to 400 resellers on public sector and set out specific growth plans for more than 40 partners.
Cathi Low, Director – Public Sector at Computer 2000, states: “With the government targeting 25 percent of all public sector procurement to go through SMEs, there are big opportunities for IT resellers. The Tendering Workshops help smaller resellers understand what’s required, overcome the perceived barriers and bid more effectively. They will give resellers the chance to get primed and ready to compete for business in the public sector.”
Computer 2000 has seen a significant uplift in public sector business since forming a dedicated division and appointing Low to her current and newly-created Director-level role in February. In May, it achieved 24 percent year-on-year growth in sales that were bound for the public sector. It has formed a special ‘overlay’ team to support reseller bids and created a dedicated public sector microsite (www.computer2000.co.uk/publicsector),which is attracting close to 200 individual visitors every week.
The company has a current focus on education, as now is the peak season for decision-making on IT in schools and colleges. Further campaigns aimed at driving sales in health and government will be instigated in the second half of the year, says Low. “We are getting a very positive response from both resellers and vendors, and seeing some good results. We are doing our best to get the message out there about the opportunities that public sector presents and how we can help resellers to be more efficient and effective in this sector with Computer 2000. There is much more to do though and that’s one of the reasons why we’re running these additional workshops. We know there is potential for resellers with good value propositions to get involved – they just need to understand how to go about it.”
As well as learning about the public sector tendering process and how to respond to PQQs and ITTs, resellers who attend receive a free 32-page e-book guide and get three months free access to a Public Sector Tender Alert service.