PC Mall Gov wins Va. supplier contract

PC Mall Gov has won a statewide contract to supply the Virginia government with Microsoft Corp. products, an award that could net the company $26 million or more over the next two years.

It's one of the first awards to come out of Gov. Mark Warner's "Virginia Partners in Procurement" pilot program, an enterprisewide approach to finding efficiencies in the state's $5 billion annual purchase of goods and services. Warner recently projected up to $30 million in annual savings from the program's initial phase.

With the exclusive contract, PC Mall Gov earns the status of a Microsoft Large Account Reseller, which means the company has been certified by the software giant as capable of supporting sales of Microsoft products to major customers such as governments and large companies.

PC Mall Gov's president Alan Bechara said the award is a strategic coup because it gives the company a vital seat at the table as Virginia agencies decide on future purchases, particularly as state officials look to expand online procurements through their electronic Virginia (eVA) initiative.

"Our ability to do Internet-based procurement was obviously a major attraction," Bechara said. "We are now in joint development with Virginia's technical people to help set up a Web commerce capability."

For the past several years, Virginia has ranked near the top of surveys on states doing electronic commerce. The eVA program has handled $1.2 billion of orders.

The PC Mall Gov contract also includes an optional extension for an additional three years.

Other recent winners of statewide Virginia Partners in Procurement awards included ASAP Software, Ronald A. Williams Ltd., Attachmate Corp., Novell Inc., DLT Solutions Inc., Cognos Corp. and Environmental Systems Research Institute Inc.

Brian Robinson is a freelance journalist based in Portland, Ore. He can be reached at hullite@mindspring.com.