But GSA officials stand by the numbers. According to GSA's Federal Supply Service figures, three of the top four MAS vendors on groups 58 and 70 were direct PC sellers. Vendors on the two schedule programs sell PCs, Unix workstations, mainframes, and related products and services. They're painfully aware of how screwed up they are. Dornan said GSA's industry-friendly sales reporting policy has led to inaccuracies.
Some vendors report figures for the month in which they receive orders.
October sales figures might include orders taken in September and shipped the following month, Dornan said. Other vendors post sales when they receive payment, which might occur 30 days or more after an order was placed. More questions Dornan questioned GSA's ability to audit the vendor reports and to collect its 1 percent industrial funding fee. If GSA's figures are correct, they indicate that more agencies are buying PC wares directly from manufacturers. Besides Dell and Gateway, PC manufacturer Micron Electronics Inc. also has seen its MAS sales surge.