The cover story about a group of resellers trying to fight anticipated changes in the government’s procurement policy is a really sad one, in my opinion.
I don’t think this group of VARs, mostly in the Ottawa region, should have to go to this extent to earn their livelihoods.
I can’t believe this country, one that embodies the free-enterprise system, could pass a restrictive single sourcing system that would only hurt, and in some cases bankrupt, businesses created by its own voters.
The feds want to save $2.5 billion over five years on total procurement by leveraging its purchasing power. Public Works has a goal to cut by 50 per cent the time it takes to buy goods and services. The government says it will monitor the impact on the supplier community, especially the smaller ones.
Now I am all for saving taxpayer dollars, but I am also very skeptical. On the surface, it looks like it could only really help Dell Canada. As for Hewlett-Packard Canada, Lenovo Canada, IBM Canada, Toshiba Canada and the others, it could force them to sell more direct than they want to. If you ask these vendors, they would all say they’d prefer to service the government through a partner.
The only one here that doesn’t is Dell. It amazes me that Public Works and Government Services could go against what the majority of its main suppliers want.
Stephen Harper’s government shouldn’t go out of its way to help a huge, multi-national corporation, one that is based in Austin, Tex., and does not make the best product on the market, and gives back very little to the community. The government should focus on helping smaller business make a go of it.
Dog-eat-dog world
I understand that this is a dog-eat -dog world, but I find it funny in a sad sort of way that during the leadership debates last year Harper was saying small businesses create most of the jobs in Canada, that small business is the backbone of the nation. But it looks like the people he put in place at Public Works don’t really care about that.
I would like to continue to blame Dell and the Harper government, but really the blame must be stretched out here.
I have asked some of these vendors and major resellers why they haven’t gone after Dell for its extremely aggressive pricing methods when it comes to government purchasing, but they have all said it would not be worth the trouble. I understand that to some extent, but sometimes you have to make a stand and fight back.
So I for one am proud that these channel partners have formed a group to fight this single sourcing motion. But these folks should not fight this fight alone. They need your help as well. Contact them at The Canadian Government Information Technology Providers Association (CGITPA) at www.cgitpa.ca.