Some interesting news came out of Reston, Virginia earlier this week. Carahsoft Technology Corp., a well-known government IT solutions provider, announced that it has been named master government reseller by Autodesk. Autodesk is pound for pound, probably the heaviest hitter in the whole 3D printing industry. I mean, they have an excellent array of CAD software, they’ve jumped right into 3D printing with Ember and Spark open software (which will be used by the upcoming HP Multijet Fusion Printers), and created the 100 million dollar Spark Investment Fund, to help foster innovation and creativity. They’ve coined the phrase “reality computing”, which is a novel concept that encompasses 3D printing, 3D scanning and 3D modeling into a singular process divided by physical and digital reality. To understand it a little better, check out Real 2015.
Carahsoft is a top-ranked GSA Schedule Contract holder. If you aren’t fluent in the American government contract vernacular, here’s a quick lesson: There are 41 GSA Schedules. Within those categories there are 1400 subcategories. There are over 19,000 contractors in total and more than $40 billion is awarded through GSA Schedules. 80% of the contractors are small businesses, and about 40% of all GSA Schedule contractors win government business. It takes an average of 9 months to get on a Schedule.
Carahsoft serves as the master government aggregator (a more domineering way of saying they are a master GSA schedule holder and Government Aggregator) for many of its best vendors, supporting an extensive ecosystem of manufacturers, resellers, and consulting partners committed to helping government agencies select and implement solutions. The company’s dedicated Solutions Divisions proactively market, sell and deliver VMware, Adobe, Symantec, EMC, F5 Networks, Open Source, HP, SAP, and Innovative and Intelligence products and services, among others. By adding Autodesk software and services to its GSA Schedule, it will support Autodesk authorized resellers and sales teams with proactive sales and marketing activities to drive up demand for Autodesk solutions within the federal government.
“Autodesk is excited to be included among Carahsoft’s market-leading technology partners and to work with Carahsoft’s Autodesk Federal team to expand our reach in the federal market,” said Brock Ballard, director of Autodesk Federal Solutions. “We’re looking forward to the company’s support in extending our success in the government space.”
The company offers term-based licenses and software suites that are targeted specifically for the federal government in the areas of:
- Facility, Building and Installation Management
- Vehicle and Weapons Systems
- Serious Games and Training
- Special Operations and Intelligence
According to Chad Mills, vice president of the Autodesk Government Team at Carahsoft, “We’re pleased to enhance our solutions portfolio with the Autodesk state-of-the-art 3D design software technology. We’re excited to partner with Autodesk and their dedicated reseller channel to provide our government customers with design solutions that address their specific needs and enable them to design, build, manage and collaborate more effectively.”
You can learn more about how government entities plan to use Autodesk by registering for “Designing the Agency of the Future With Autodesk” being held 2 p.m. ET, Tuesday, January 13, 2015.
