NEWS INTERVIEW
Westcoast in UC push R
elationships with key vendors such as Microsoft and HP have enabled Westcoast to invest in a dedicated UC team and build a Solutions Lab to showcase live UC environments. According to Scott Somenthal, UC Sales Manager, the UC division is on course to deliver revenues of circa £3.9 million this year and will look to grow this by 20 per cent as it moves into 2013. “Westcoast sees UC as a massive growth opportunity,” claimed Somenthal. “Microsoft Lync is a game-changing product that will transform the voice market.”
Scott Somenthal
Distribution powerhouse Westcoast aims to increase turnover by 15 per cent over the coming year and building a Microsoft Lync-based UC practice is a key plank of its ambitious growth agenda.
He believes that Westcoast’s UC proposition will provide partners with the platforms required to drive forward into new technology areas within UC. These platforms include a variety of dedicated teams, demonstration facilities, marketing programs as well as technical pre and post-sales support. The Solutions Lab, based in Milton Keynes, was originally a joint venture between Westcoast, Microsoft and HP and was designed and built within six months of concept. “The Solutions Lab enables us to run various channel and end user events, end user demonstrations and partner training,” noted Somenthal. “In the past three months alone we’ve had over 50 resellers into the lab for a variety of UC demonstrations, several partners have brought along end users for demonstrations, and we’ve delivered Microsoft Lync and Aastra sales training. One of our partners held an end user event and closed a Lync deal for 150 users off the back of it within three weeks.”
There have been several seminal moments in Westcoast’s growth. Securing an HP contract after the HP/Compaq merger in 2000 was critical to the company’s success. HP is still Westcoast’s most important and largest vendor but this has been supplemented by Microsoft, Toshiba, Samsung and Apple. “Westcoast tends to have a narrow portfolio allowing a deeper knowledge of these vendors,”
to Sec 30 COMMS DEALER AUGUST 2012
added Somenthal. “The company has also made key acquisitions of Orion, XMA and Clarity Ireland.”
Westcoast recently celebrated five years as a full Microsoft Distribution Partner and has seen 38 per cent growth in the last year alone to over £100 million. “We are driving a strategy around MS Lync and have the ability to support partners as they move into this technology,” added Somenthal. “For example, we have fully adopted Microsoft’s Customer Immersion Experience in our Solutions Lab allowing resellers to see Lync in action with associated hardware.”
Demand for Lync The growth of MS Lync has been one of the key influencing factors behind Westcoast’s UC proposition. “We’ve quickly built on this by adding complementary vendors such as Audiocodes for its MS Lync Gateways and SBCs, and Aastra for its MS Lync handsets,” commented Somenthal. “Our proposition quickly developed as we felt that a UC solution is not necessarily ‘one size fits all’ and wanted an IP PBX solution to complete the initial offering. By on-boarding Aastra’s full SMB and enterprise portfolio we can support our partners whatever their customers’ UC requirement.”
Westcoast will enable resellers to build their own UC proposition without the requirement for an initial outlay. Sales and Solutions Architects act as an extension of the partners’ business and help them build revenues, while Westcoast’s pre and post-sales support offering allows partners to grow their UC strategy without the need to invest in engineering. “And with the dedicated UC marketing funds we have from our vendors we can help design a marketing plan to help partners grow,” added Somenthal. “Partner feedback indicates that we are driving the UC market which is helping them to grow their business.”
Looking ahead the distributor is set to embark on two new phases of development. “From our partners’
perspective we’re continually driving their vendor accreditations and aim to increase their business by implementing lead generation programs in Q3,” explained Somenthal. “Our UC offering is expanding too as we add new vendors to complement our existing ones. We launched the full range of Sennheiser headsets in April and will soon be introducing Gamma’s SIP offering, enabling Westcoast to offer a full end-to-end solution.”
Mobility has a big role to play in Unified Communications and Westcoast is seeing more and more partners drive this type of solution into their end users. The distributor currently engages with 80-plus channel partners and many of these are new to UC and want to drive a UC strategy based on the market’s overall potential. “Over the past four months we helped 20 partners to gain an accreditation with one or more of our vendors,” commented Somenthal. “This number will increase further as we continue to run a series of training programs with all our vendors over the coming months.”
Westcoast is on the look-out for appropriate acquisitions to extend its UC proposition and realise its vision to provide both an on-premise and hosted UC offering. Somenthal added: “We are fully committed to UC, so watch this space.”
n Westcoast in Profile
WESTCOAST was established by current owner Joe Hemani in 1984 and is the 54th largest privately owned business in the UK (Sunday Times Top Track). Westcoast UK has 470 staff while the group headcount is almost 800. The firm posted revenues of £824 million for the year ended 31st December 2011 with the group at £952 million. This year the UK business is expected to grow by £150 million and the group will notch up £1.2 billion.
re, on-going Hosted revenues. 0800 054 2233
newdeal@welcometelecom.co.uk www.comms-dealer.com
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