GSA now says resellers not affected by IBM suspension

The General Services Administration released a statement retracting prior assertions that the IBM suspension from new federal contracts stemming from an action taken by the Environmental Protection Agency would extend to the sales of IBM products by resellers.

"One of the underlying issues resulting from the suspension has been the impact on the purchase from resellers of IBM products," said GSA spokesman Michael Collins. "Based upon information just provided by EPA, the suspension does not relate to the integrity of IBM products. Therefore, there is no issue with respect to a reseller performing under its own contract. That is, if the authorized reseller of IBM products is performing under its own contract, the [Federal Acquisition Regulation] Subpart 9.4 restrictions regarding contracting with a suspended party do not apply."

This is good news for resellers, because not only can they continue to sell IBM products, but they also could potentially pick up some federal business now forcibly abandoned by IBM's direct sales team.

"This is very good news," said Daniel Serpico, president and chief executive officer of Jeskell, an IBM premier business partner based in Sunnyvale, Calif., that had received calls from customers indicating they couldn't purchase products until the suspension was resolved.