Jim Loden, vice president of CompUSA Business Services, apparently has heard that one before.

Addressing the deal during a keynote session in New York at the C3 Expo, Loden chalked up the SaaS plan to the suggestion of a local sales representative. Apparently, one of CompUSA's existing customers approached the retailer's store in Manhattan with an odd question: train us on this NetSuite stuff. So this entrepreneurial guy picked up the phone and got the developer to give him training in order to help his client. Along the way, he smelled opportunity, and CompUSA's headquarters staff picked up the phone to call NetSuite.

The deal was announced Monday, and apparently CompUSA was on the verge of signing its first contract within 24 hours of the official public blessing. BTW, the deal is exclusive for about 120 days.

NetSuite CEO Zach Nelson, naturally, is excited about the prospect of a national concern representing his suite of business applications. CompUSA, for its part, is talking up the potential for its services partners to help with training and customization for the application.

The retailer will tap its Techknowledgists network, which now includes about 20,000 technicians.

Where does this leave NetSuite's existing channel partners? Certainly, there's potential for them to link up with CompUSA. But make no mistake, this alliance is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the company's aspirations in IT. "We want to be your single source for SMB IT," Loden told C3 attendees.

Which leads me to ask another question: Who should CDW be more worried about these days, Dell or CompUSA?