United States Special Operations Command (SOCOM) provides command, control and training for all special operations forces in the United States. In short, SOCOM prepares assigned forces to carry out special operations, psychological operations and civil affairs missions as required during peacetime or hostilities. To support their mission, SOCOM must have the latest in cutting-edge IT solutions and services, and the General Services Administration (GSA) has issued a five-year, $5.5B blanket purchase agreement (BPA) for IT products and services to help make that happen.
Having the opportunity to participate in a GSA contract can be hard for smaller businesses, particularly those that lack the resources to do everything necessary for consideration. This can be discouraging, because GSA Schedules are long-term, government-wide contracts between commercial suppliers and the government and can be a lucrative business, particularly for IT solutions and services.
One way for VARs to have the opportunity to establish their presence in the federal marketplace is through partnerships with Westcon-Comstor Americas and with SYNNEX, which was awarded as the Letter of Supply holder for Cisco approved for the three-year, $48-million SOCOM BPA. IT resellers and value-added resellers (VARs) can participate through cooperative purchasing agreements under the Westcon-Comstor Americas and SYNNEX GSA letter.
As Ed Somers, Sr. Director, Public Sector for SYNNEX, recently shared with EDGE360, it is important for government contractors and IT resellers to demonstrate strong partnerships and relationships across the supply chain, as well as a high level of expertise in the technology products and services they are offering.
As he shared, “… IT resellers need to come to the table with a broad scope of products to offer to create that total solution approach. In other words, while we want our partners to work with us to sell Cisco solutions, they need to demonstrate depth and breadth. It is in their best interest to develop relationships with technology manufacturers across the board to create a best of breed total solution.”
Somers also reinforced that the goal for Westcon-Comstor Americas and SYNNEX is to “support our partners’ bid efforts and we do not bid on this GSA BPA directly. We are not your competition; we are your partner and we take that role seriously.”
Somers encourages VARs and other resellers to reach out to him and his GSA team and others to gain access to the SOCOM GSA BPA. You can email gsa@synnex.com for both GSA Schedules for Westcon-Comstor and SYNNEX.
