Cashing in on the Economic Stimulus Package

Cashing in on the Economic Stimulus Package - Finding Money for Customers

For example, Fujitsu's channel chief Matt McManus says that the stimulus package has $20 billion available in health care for electronic record keeping—some for hospitals and some for individual doctors.

"We are looking at that and will be providing training out to VARs," he says. In addition, there are also funds earmarked for education. "For example, California alone is getting $74 million for education technology. ... 

"The trick is to write the proposal [on behalf of the end customer] and get the grants" to fund their projects, McManus says. "We've done that with one or two mandates in the past." 

"I look at [the stimulus package] as a big lead-generation tool," says Laclede. "You find the end customer, find out the kind of money they are going to get, and then point that solution provider right at them."

Meanwhile, some customers are already anticipating the funds and have put out RFPs (request for proposals), says Mike AtLee, national director of Avnet Technology Solutions, Americas, GovPath. For example, in city business RFPs are up 44 percent in the first two months of 2009 over the same period in 2008. County business RFPs are up 33 percent, and state business is up 10 percent.

In education, for K-12, RFPs are up 58 percent for the first two months of 2009 compared with the same period a year ago. In higher education, RFPs are up 23 percent.

"What that tells you is that all these sectors knew the stimulus package was coming and said let's put out RFPs for what we need now," AtLee says. "These sectors are prepared to say, 'I've got my stuff on the street and am ready to make an award, and I'm probably going to go with some individual contract I already have negotiated.'"

Solution providers who have existing business relationships with these stimulus-ready customers are the ones likely to win this kind of business, says AtLee.  Avnet Technology Solutions is among the distributors that are putting together a raft of solution provider training options to help partners take advantage of the funding coming out of Washington.

Solution providers should look for all their distributors and vendors to have their full solution provider-assistance offerings in place in the next three months, once the government puts together the details of how funds will be distributed.

Funds will actually begin flowing in the third (July to September) and fourth (October to December) quarters of this year, or maybe as late as early 2010, says Laclede. That will give solution providers a little bit of time to get ready.

"A lot of [being successful in getting grants for customers] is being armed with information that there is grant money available to that end user," says Pam Markle, a senior markets manager who tracks trends at Ingram Micro.

For example, many health care providers were unaware of their eligibility for funding for broadband access through a Federal Communications Commission program.

"You could see new hospitals coming onto this monthly call that were just learning about these funds that are available," Markle says. "If a reseller walks in and tells the customer that you fit the profile of this grant money, then they can be the trusted adviser."