Helping you to get the most from The IT Index

How does The IT Index differ from other IT suppliers or websites?

The IT Index is a completely unique and revolutionary e-procurement solution, which receives daily electronic data feeds from all of the mainline UK and some global IT distributors giving our users access to over 400 vendors.

We have over 100,000 items providing access to one of Europe’s largest online IT databases, and growing larger by the day.

We provide complete transparency across the entire product range with access to our cost prices updated daily, a negotiated margin based on projected spend and best price daily within UK distribution.

You get access to the distributor stock levels.

The IT Index streamlines the entire procurement process, by cutting down the time historically spent contacting different Suppliers, explaining requirements and waiting for them to email or call back with information.

Over 12,000 clients have been set up with an IT Index account, giving them complete peace of mind with real value for money every time an order is placed.

I can’t find what I’m looking for

Try amending your search criteria via the quick search box in the top right hand corner, the advanced search feature, or alternatively, use the main product menu on the left hand side. When entering search criteria, avoid using plural terms like "notebooks", as items are generally listed in the singular.

Alternatively, simply contact your account manager, who will be pleased to assist.

Although The IT Index contains one of Europe’s largest and most comprehensive IT databases with 100,000+ products there will inevitably be occasions where an item is nearing "end-of-life" or is a newly released item. Again contact your account manager, who may be able to source the item through an alternative distributor that isn’t yet linked into The IT Index.

What do I do if The IT Index is showing zero stock availability?

If zero is showing in the stock column, you may still place the order online. It will be shipped out to you once in stock. The stock levels are updated overnight through all the mainline UK IT Distributor feeds.

Alternatively, you can contact your internal account manager who will be able to provide a more precise idea of lead times. If an item is urgently required, we can source it through another distributor that isn’t yet linked into The IT Index.

What if an item is cheaper elsewhere?

As The IT Index takes data feeds from UK mainline distribution, it does not offer end-of-life products at reduced prices. It is therefore conceivable that an alternative supplier could offer an IT product at a more competitive rate than The IT Index. The same situation may emerge if an alternative supplier is promoting a special offer due to having surplus stock in their warehouse.

In our experience we have found this situation to be rare, and usually limited to special headline offers from competitors. If an item is more competitive elsewhere, please contact your account manager who will be pleased to assist and endeavour to match if not beat your quoted price.

A major advantage of using The IT Index is that it offers consistently competitive prices across its entire product portfolio. This is achieved by offering a fixed low margin on all of our 100,000+ products.

For larger volume or higher value orders, it is recommended that you contact your internal account manager who may be able to provide further discounts below your standard margin.

What if I have any special pricing arrangements, corporate agreements or special bids in place?

Please inform your account manager who will then prepare quotations for you reflecting these discounted prices.

We are an educational establishment that qualifies for government or educational discounts

Inform your account manager who will inform you about any educational/government discount that you may be eligible for on certain items or product ranges.

To comply with government regulations, public sector organisations may be required to obtain 3 quotes as standard practice. However, Probrand Ltd has been an accredited Reseller within the Buying Solutions IT GAS Framework since 2006, which removes this requirement for customers of the IT Index.

How can I place an order?

Simply click on the "Add to Basket" icon on the row of the item that you wish to purchase. You will be taken to your shopping basket, which shows you all of the items that you want to buy. You can change the quantity of each item by entering another number in the quantity box - however make sure you click on the Update button at the bottom of the list.

When you have finished shopping, click on "Order Now" from within the shopping basket. You can return to your shopping basket at any time by clicking on "basket" from the main list of options that run below the grey title bar.

Any orders placed will be shown on your Budget Control "Department Spend". Alternatively, if you prefer, you can place orders via your account manager by fax, phone or email.

What is the Rogue Buying Control feature?

The IT Index provide an automated breakdown of your expenditure at the click of a button, across your individual users, departments, even across different sites. This can be useful simply for monitoring or forecasting future IT spend/budgets. This information can be restricted to just the IT Manager (Budgethead) or other nominated users e.g. Finance Director, or can be made available to all users.

Alternatively, an optional online authorisation facility can be set up for the Budgethead to approve IT Index orders electronically, before they are processed. The end user will still have the ability to browse around The IT Index, however, once they add an item to their basket and click on "order now", the Budgethead will receive automatic email notification.

The Budgethead can access a restricted "authorise orders" area on The IT Index and approve, hold or reject the order on line. If required, individual user credit limits can be set up to provide further control, e.g. a £250 limit for the consumables buyer.

What if there are items that I purchase on a regular basis?

To save time, a standard favourites list of your commonly purchased items can be created on the front page, or an automatically populated wishlist which will add items to this list once you start to place orders. This can be one wishlist for your organisation or individual wishlists for each user.

If required, the Budgethead may wish to restrict any user’s purchasing ability to just the wishlist.

To set this feature up, please speak to your account manager.