Dell joins forces with Softcat on the NSSA to deliver servers and storage to universities

Dell has confirmed Softcat as one of its nominated resellers on the National Servers & Storage Agreement (NSSA) operated by the Southern Universities Purchasing Consortium (SUPC). The four-year contract which started in November 2012 will see Softcat – recently announced as Dell’s ‘EMEA Platinum Partner of the Year’ and ‘UK Reseller of the Year 2013’ – selling Dell’s server and storage solutions to UK universities.

Tuesday, 3rd December 2013 Posted 11 years ago in by Phil Alsop

Universities are increasingly seeking holistic IT solutions, which incorporate both software and hardware. Softcat’s Higher Education team, headed by education manager Nick Berry, will supply, support and maintain Dell servers and storage solutions via the NSSA. The agreement features non-fixed pricing and promotes competition between manufacturers, so participating universities receive very competitively priced storage and server equipment.

Jamie Burke, Softcat sales director, anticipates strong pick-up from universities in the first year. He said: “Two of the areas Softcat is investing in most heavily are the higher education sector and our own in-house data centre capabilities. Being selected as one of Dell's partners under NSSA enables us to bring both of these strengths to bear. Dell are market leaders in the higher education sector, and when coupled with Softcat's software expertise, as validated by our number one ranking under the SUPC software agreement, we have a very strong joint ‘go to market’ proposition.”

Nick Berry, Softcat’s education manager, said: “We’re absolutely delighted to be partnering with Dell on the NSSA Framework. This will accelerate our continued commitment to working with higher education institutions through our team of HE specialists. We look forward to working closely with member institutions and assisting them in providing innovative and cost effective enterprise solutions in partnership with Dell.”

Softcat is active on a number of other national framework contracts, including the SUPC Software License Resellers Framework and the NDNA, providing IT solutions to further education institutions.