Multiven Consumer Advocacy Group Releases Dossier Highlighting Anti-Competitive Procurement Practices within US Government Agencies

Silicon Valley, California – April 7, 2010 – The Multiven Consumer Advocacy Group, a unit of Multiven – the global leader in premium multivendor Internet Protocol network maintenance services – today released a Dossier titled “Anti-Competition Concerns in US Government Request For Proposals: Cisco SMARTnet”. This Dossier highlights anti-competitive procurement practices within US Government agencies that eliminate competition, stifle job creation, and reduce technological innovation.

Most US government agencies persist in issuing Request For Proposals (RFP) for maintenance of Cisco networking equipment that specifically request for “ Cisco SMARTnet only” thus perpetuating a highly anticompetitive practice that is contrary to President Obama’s order of March 4, 2009 to Federal Government executive agencies instructing them to desist from issuing non-competitive contracts.

Restrictive RFPs are often supported by flawed fear-mongering Justification & Approvals (J&A) statements that falsely ascertain that only Cisco Systems – a company that manufactures most of its hardware in China, with the majority of its software supported out of India – is capable of maintaining US Government networks. Such incorrect statements prevent tax-paying manufacturer-independent service providers from competing and thus deprives the US Government of considerable cost savings, choice and innovation - a much needed requirement especially with the ongoing battle to secure Government cyber-infrastructure.

To correct this behavior, all Government agencies should remove Brand Name requests from all Cisco equipment maintenance RFPs to allow fair and competitive bids from all service providers. It is the duty of all Government agencies to discourage and discontinue anti-competitive practices so as not to be party to an illegal act that is counter-productive to the values of free and open market societies.

The full article can be read at http://advocacy.multiven.com/dossiers/dossier-2

About the Multiven Consumer Advocacy Group
The Multiven Consumer Advocacy Group, a unit of Multiven, Inc. aims to educate, enlighten and empower consumers, corporations and government agencies about ethical issues within the Internet networking industry. Its main goal is to ensure the proper and continuously efficient functioning of the Internet, and the fair treatment of consumers. To learn more about the Multiven Consumer Advocacy Group, please visit http://advocacy.multiven.com/.

Multiven is a registered trademark of Multiven, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks of the respective companies with which they are associated.

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