text: Westcon Announces Secure Supply Chain Services for Resellers and Integrators Serving U.S. Public Sector - Comstor Germany
  Tarrytown, NY, September 22, 2009 - Westcon Group, Inc., the leading specialty distributor in networking, convergence, security and mobility, announced that it is offering Secure Supply Chain services to its customers serving the public sector and government markets. These custom services can be applied to government orders going through Comstor's GSA schedule, as well as to a range of other public sector deployments.
  • Trade Agreement Act (TAA) confirmation and verification: Westcon can work directly with manufacturers to provide customers with verifications that products comply with Trade Agreement Act requirements.
  • Blind Supply Chain Delivery: This ensures that the end destination of equipment is "blind" to all elements of the supply chain until final delivery.
  • Secure Delivery Handling: Westcon can handle custom transportation and handling of items that need to be delivered at certain times and under specific conditions, using pre-approved, pre-screened delivery services.
  • Unique Identification Compliance (UID): Westcon can assist customers with UID tagging services. A frequent requirement for DOD (Department of Defense) contracts and other agencies, UID is a tagging methodology that enables government agencies to track goods anywhere in the world.
  Bernie Kelley, vice president, operations, Westcon Group North America, commented: "We are making it easier for our customers—both large and small—to sell to the public sector in a compliant and secure fashion. When you look at our Secure Delivery Services in combination with Comstor's GSA schedule offering, it represents a tremendous opportunity to resellers."
  Tiffani Bova, VP of research at Gartner, said: "Distributors can play a vital role in ensuring that technology procured by the government and public sector is handled appropriately, transparently and meets all relevant compliance requirements. Resellers catering to government end-users should align themselves with distribution partners who are experienced with Secure Supply Chain, UID tagging and other areas to ensure smooth transactions."
  "Comstor provides us with a number of different tools and resources to strategically differentiate our offering in the Federal market," commented Ted Hallas, executive vice president, operations of Chantilly, VA-based Nova Datacom. "Comstor's GSA program—in combination with its Secure Supply Chain services—substantially increases our win rates and success with Federal customers. As a result, we are doing more business with Comstor."
  Comstor's GSA schedule program is available to Cisco Premier and above certified resellers selling to the federal, state or local governments. For more information, please visit the Comstor GSA site at http://gsa.comstor.com. Comstor customers can learn more about Cisco solutions for the ARRA by visiting: http://www.cisco.com/go/econstim.