It’s good to have friends, especially when you are among the nation’s largest suppliers of technology to multiple branches of federal and state governments.
As the old saying goes:
“for want of a nail, the shoe was lost /
for want of a shoe, horse was lost /
for want of a horse, the rider was lost /
for want of a rider, the battle was lost /
for want of a battle, the kingdom was lost /
and all for the want of a horseshoe nail.”
In the past 18 months, the GSA has become more selective about many of their contracts, as have contracts relating to aerospace and defense. As a result, companies who do business with the government have begun to grow leaner and more efficient – especially as it relates to their supply chain and vendor network.
Good subcontractors are worth their weight in gold to major governmental partners. For example, in a recent RFQ, a major defense contractor needed an entire fleet of new, factory fresh ruggedized laptops for their nearly 650 employees … and they needed them in a hurry. Organizations like Computer Products Corporation are part of the tapestry of subcontractors and suppliers that make those types of deals happen – and in this example, the order was fulfilled in a matter of 48 hours.
Even at the state government level, vendors and subcontractors are critical. CherryRoad Technologies was just awarded the NASPO ValuePoint cloud solutions contract with the State of New Mexico. Those services include Infrastructure-as-a-Service, Platform-as-a-Service, and Software-as-a-Service, and includes the deployment of hundreds of technology components for their staff and partners. With millions of dollars at stake, especially as NASPO ValuePoint is the nation’s largest public contract cooperative, CherryPoint will surely be staffing up for the engagement reaching into resources and networks in 13 states.
As far as dealing with a government vendor, the subcontractor community stands on two things: reliability and competency. Because the requirements for many subcontractors is secondary – and only really requires a DUNS number, capability statement, and a system of award management – there are lots of “subs” out there. As a result, it is largely the reliability and competency of organizations like Computer Products Corporation that results in successful support of government vendors.