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Hi folks, So as my title says - What do you look for in an IT supplier? I've worked with Education for the last 8-9 years at a different reseller and I was always told how to interact with people and told how to do things. Me personally, I have always been a fan of "if you don't ask, you don't get" I'd like to say over the last near decade I've done well but ultimately I would like to change how I do things. I'm keen to get your point of view on these things. Otherwise I'll never understand and I'm not happy with that. TIA

Hi Guys as you are all aware, Schools and Colleges are reopening….we at C.P wish you (those lucky enough to have enjoyed a break!) luck for the new term. Mabye we can lighten the load with this great server offer from HP HP ML 350 Tower Server £749.00+vat Free Next Business Day Delivery Quad Core Xeon E5405 6MB Cache 2.0Ghz 2GB DDR2 Memory DVD ROM E200i/128MB SAS Smart Array SFF Hot Plug Drive Bays 3 Yr Next Business Day Warranty Delivered Free Of Charge As Is Everything From Computer Products.

Hi, Just wading through the frameworks and lots in CCS, and just thought it would be worth asking here if anyone is a supplier (or is aware of a supplier) of enterprise wifi solutions - ideally Ruckus- that is can supply under an existing government framework agreement? Best fit i can find at the moment is PSN Services - Contract ID: RM1498 (Lot 8). ** Please note this is not an open invitation for all suppliers to start contacting me to offer services - i'm specifically looking for framework suppliers. If i cannot find a suitable framework then we will go down the procurement route where suppliers will be engaged with formally. ** Thanks, JB.

I am sick to death of dealing with a large proportion of the suppliers in this country (NZ), for one most are a total rip off which is not entirely their fault but rather an symptom of the suppliers tacking an extra 80% on to the cost when it gets here. The primary issue though is the bunch that 'know better', I asked for a switch of this model, spec etc. I want a quote for it not a bunch of second guessing and wineing about how that's not the way they would have done it. I don't care if you deal with a High School using smaller switches than us, maybe you are underspecing, maybe we were deliberately after something that would last for ages, be upgradable and cope with growth. As it happens I was going along with the theme that has served us quite well of going for quality hardware that would not become a limiting factor in the future. A good foundation instead of a good for right now solution. When they start saying things like 'we are not even going to provide pricing' for some options you have to start suspecting and when they come up at double the cost of any other supplier you have to wonder if they are in over their heads. Some suppliers that I deal with are good, do their best to get pricing as good as it can be in NZ and offer helpful input, they even provide the pricing that we ask for. So, to all cranky 'suppliers', before you get up on your high horse please make sure that you are actually dealing with a horse race instead of an F1 contest and keep your unhelpful criticisms to yourself. To all the good suppliers, thank you for providing pricing and helpful, non-accusatory suggestions.

I am trying to locate someone who can supply network patch leads in small lengths - ie. 0.15m. I would want them in grey, blue, orange, green, red and yellow. Does anyone know of a supplier who could provide these? I am having trouble finding one. I would need about 500 all together, so *really really* don't want to make them myself.

As we will have an increased IT budget next year, we are looking for any educational AV suppliers who are prepared to come into our school (in Darlington Co. Durham) to demonstrate what is available to our teaching staff. We are particularly interested in IWB solutions / alternatives, projector to tablet solutions, wireless projectors etc. Anything that will enhance the AV side of teaching. The idea is that staff can view what you have available, then request any items they want from next year’s budget. Any suppliers please pm me or if anyone can suggest any companies that would be great.

Hi,Was wondering if anyone knew of good suppliers of industrial sized, power strips? preferably as an under-desk solution and ideally between 12-15 outlets.Thanks!

Hi Guys, Does anyone know a good supplier for HP Hardware in mainland UK? I usually use EBM who I can highly recommend but need a second quote (not misco). Cheers, Stu

Has anyone else had issues with Roche AV and sending lamps back on warranty recently? I sent back 2 without issue, but a 3rd failed (with a bang) so they offered to clean out the glass dust as part of the warranty service free-of-charge as well as replacing the lamp. To be honest I was quite impressed with that as they have to pay to have it shipped. I then got a call from someone at Roche who seemed to be a service engineer. He gave me quite a long spiel about the projector having a strong pink cast over the image and how it is caused by dirt on the blue LCD etc. etc. (our filters are cleaned very regularly and he agreed that the filters were clean in that projector). I could tell at that point we were building up a head of steam for a sales pitch. He then tried to sell me their service of cleaning the LCD for £69, despite the colour quality having been absolutely fine up until the lamp going. Obviously it didn't sound like such a fantastic idea, so I told him I'd want to get quotes from other companies for the work to be done and asked him to clean out the glass dust, put the new lamp in and send it back here as agreed. He seemed more than a little miffed at that and told me he would have to ask his manager about that! Ahem, no he bloody wouldn't! Is this a new thing with Roche? Have I just been unlucky on this occasion? I've never had any significant problems with them in the past and their customer support has been very friendly and responsive (a guy called Craig usually calls and I cannot fault him at all).

I just had the pleasure of having to replace some bits of a Mimio system that had been stolen over the holidays. As such I rang up the local supplier and asked if we could purchase some replacements bits, new pens and cables. They asked how the bits had been misplaced and once they heard about the theft and that we were a school they volunteered to provide the replacement bits for free. They then outlined the corporate policy of the parent company which pretty much said that if it stuffs up for whatever reason send it back to us and we will sort it for you. I have no idea whether this is a standard that all of the suppliers adhere to or whether the one that I was dealing with was just particularly good but it is certainly a good policy. Having dealt with other companies that treat customers in ways that are far less than helpful it was an extremely refreshing and welcome surprise.

Can anyone recommend any companies who've done decent projector + IWB installs for them at a reasonable price, within the Derby/NE Derbyshire. Ideally with staff training packages available, although if anyone has used a separate training co. for this, names also welcome - if the LEA has a standard supplier (we're independent) the name of them would also be handy. Thanks.