Alternative Launches GSA Agent Program

Under the program that was unveiled at the company's partner conference in Broomfield, Col., Alternative will manage the GSA process and recruit the vendors that will be part of the program. Vendors that have signed up for the GSA program include Packteer, Vericept, Eicon, Rajant and BNX.

The core concept behind the program is for Alternative to leverage its services to bid on contracts that are in turn fulfilled by solution providers.

G. Terry Jones, president of Compumart in Vienna, Va, said that even though his company already has its own GSA list of approved vendors, he is excited about the Alternative program because it gives him access to more vendor products to bid on those contracts without having to do all the laborious GSA contract work.

For Alternative, this GSA program is the latest rendition of what the company describes as a European distribution model under which Alternative invests in professional and technical services and then makes those services available to solution providers that purchase products through Alternative.

According to company president and COO Bill Botti this allows solution providers to bid for more business without having to make as much of a capital investment in services.