Everybody knows CDW-G

The original version of this story incorrectly listed a company as co-sponsor of the survey. Although CDW-G has sponsored the survey in previous years, the company did not sponsor it this year.

A new market survey shows that GTSI has lost recognition among agency officials. Without any prompting, only 26 percent named GTSI when asked to think of a reseller, while 46 percent mentioned CDW Government.

That represents a drop for GTSI, which rated 38 percent in the same survey last year compared with CDW-G's 47 percent.

The survey, conducted by Market Connections, has measured federal recognition of and attitude toward contractors for five years, said Lisa Dezzutti, the company's president and chief executive officer.

In addition to GTSI's decline, the new survey also showed rising awareness of retailers such as Best Buy and Office Depot — 11 percent and 8 percent respectively, with Staples following at 6 percent and Circuit City at 5 percent — as federal employees increasingly use government purchase cards, Dezzutti said. The retailers rated no higher than 1 percent in the 2004 survey.

Ann-Marie Clark, general manager of marketing at CDW-G, attributed the company's ranking to its service.

During the busier part of the government's buying season, as the end of the fiscal year nears, "we're [running] 24 hours," she said. "People know if they call at midnight, someone will answer the phone."

The survey also showed that Dell holds an enormous lead for unaided awareness among manufacturers that sell directly to government customers, with 80 percent of respondents naming the company. Hewlett-Packard was second at 44 percent.

IBM led among integrators, with 33 percent recognition; 25 percent of the respondents named second-place Lockheed Martin.