Solarweb welcomes Westcoast as latest customer for licenseme
Date: 2nd October 2007
PRESS RELEASE
Leading software developer, Solarweb has announced that Westcoast, the IT products distributor, has become the latest customer for its fully-automated software licensing sales tool, licenseme.
Built for use by resellers, distributors and software vendors, licenseme speeds-up and simplifies software licence sales, reducing the high error rates facing many in the channel. In some cases, 25% of licence orders are rejected by vendors due to errors introduced during the sales process. These errors are costly to rectify and can damage customer relations.
Earlier this year, Westcoast was appointed as an authorised Microsoft licensing distributor, to focus on the SME and independent retail sectors. Westcoast will use licenseme to develop services for its resellers, focusing on sales of Microsoft licensing.
Resellers with access to licenseme will be able to confidently configure licensing quotations without relying solely on a licensing sales expert, as the tool automatically identifies the most appropriate licensing programme for any given organisation, and builds quotes using automatically downloaded product information.
Andy Dow, Westcoast Commercial Director, said: "Our purchase of licenseme means Westcoast can offer resellers a simple, more profitable way to sell Microsoft licenses. No more manual keying in of product codes, no more assigning customers to the wrong licensing programme, and no more reliance on having a licensing specialist."
Vendors frequently update their licensing programmes, meaning sales teams face regular periods of downtime, getting up-to-speed on the changes, when they ought to be selling. By automatically identifying the right licensing scheme for each customer, licenseme delivers value for money, while assisting with software asset management and compliance responsibilities.
Barney Light, Solarweb Technical Director, said: "Selling software licenses has been a long-standing complex affair which shows no sign of imminent simplification; the advent of software-as-a-service, multi-core processing and so on are changing the way software usage is licensed. This puts pressure on resellers in what is already a low-margin transaction. Because we have automated the licensing sales process, licenseme empowers software sales teams by providing them with all the information and updates they need to sell the right Microsoft licensing products and programmes to their customers."
Solarweb is an expert in developing software tools and applications for licensing, and developed the global Microsoft Product Licensing Advisor (MPLA) licence configurator, which is now in use on the Microsoft website: http://www.microsoft.com/licensing/mpla/
About Solarweb
Solarweb is a software applications developer with specific expertise in a number of important practice areas. One of these is software licensing; Solarweb is the UK's leading expert in software licensing issues and develops tools that help businesses negotiate this highly complex area. Solarweb developed the MPLA licensing configurator for Microsoft, and is currently working with other leading companies on similar initiatives.
About Westcoast
Established in 1984, Westcoast has become a leading national wholesale distributor within the UK. Westcoast has built a product portfolio spanning the whole computing spectrum, ranging from desktop PC and notebook products through to high end server solutions, network products, printers, peripherals, related accessories, consumables and home entertainment products. Westcoast adopts a focused approach to both product range and customer account management. The increasing emphasis on these two issues has enabled the company to enjoy constant growth.
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