Why we need another HPE access point

By David Anthony

I must admit, I thought to myself “why are HPE pushing an Office Connect access point? Isn’t this just going to take business away from Aruba and confuse the issue?”

Not for the first time, I’ll admit I was wrong. I’ve written previously about how smartphones have raised everyone’s expectations about what we should be able to do in the workplace. If we can run our lives from our phones, why not our businesses from our laptops, tablets and phones, wherever we are?

The 6 Steps to a Decluttered Desk

Desks! Love them or hate them, let’s start with a truth that might hit a bit hard: you probably spend more time at your desk than you do in your living room at home. With that out of the way, the good news is that they’re a lot easier to declutter and tidy than a living room is. How, you ask?

Why your customers want you to discuss HPE Synergy and composable infrastructure

By Stuart Wareham

Remember when HPE (HP in old money) brought Blades and the virtualised infrastructure to the channel over a decade ago? That was a land mark moment for the evolution of the data centre. To reduce rack space, operating costs and drive efficiencies that an IT manager could not only visualise but also deliver the ROI that the business demands.

HPE Blades are still here, in fact there will be Gen 10 Blades released this summer. What do Blade customers want and expect from their IT infrastructure in 2017? The answer is a composable infrastructure – but do they know that and what does that mean? Isn’t that just another phrase banded about the channel like Hybrid IT, hyper-converged and the cloud? Let’s look at composable infrastructure in more detail.

Get creative with the HP ZBook 15u G3

Does anyone ever look back on IT hardware with fondness? Has a friend or colleague ever said to you, “You know what, I really miss my Dell Precision 380”? Yeah, that’s what I thought. We’re living in a technological boom, and it’s a great time to be working in IT and following the changes as they happen.

It doesn’t require a great stretch of the imagination to say that those who have benefited most from the constant advances in IT hardware are those who need the most power. For example, gone are the days when designers were using workstations the size of fridge-freezers with 1 gig of RAM in a desperate bid to keep on top of their workload (albeit slowly). Devices have simultaneously slimmed down, risen in performance, and gotten cheaper. And this means that designers are given more flexibility in choice of tech, and that they can finally use workstations that look as appealing as the content that’s being created on them.

9 Ways to Find New Business on Linkedin

By Sian Walsh

Did you know that LinkedIn launched in 2003? No, me neither! I've been a LinkedIn Member since 2012 and at the time I thought I was quite new to the party - it turns out I was actually quite a late adopter.

At the time of joining Linkedin I had recently finished uni and was looking for my first proper job. Having stumbled across this 'new' platform it seemed it would be the perfect place to showcase myself, network with professionals and get on the job search.

5 years on and times have changed I've got a great job at Westcoast and i'm far from looking for a new one, yet I find myself spending a large proportion of my day on Linkedin. But why am i on Linkedin so much i hear you ask..

Complex Solutions - Simply Sold

By Lee Prior

“I know enough about technology to know that I don’t know enough.” That’s what I often hear myself saying when faced with a technical question that exposes the limit of my knowledge. It’s a flippant comment that most times will buy me the breathing room I need to look up the subject matter and return with a full answer a little while later…That’s fine for me I’m in marketing, but a sales person faced with a call or presentation where they are expected to have all the information to hand in order to secure the deal doesn’t always have that luxury.

Top tier sales made easy: Welcome to the new HP Premium website

By Emma Richardson,

There’s something amazingly satisfying about finding exactly the right device for a customer. Perhaps it’s the thrill that comes from digging through countless spec sheets to find something that ticks all the boxes, or maybe it’s the anticipation of future business through the customer loyalty that you’re inevitably earning. No matter what the reason, setting a customer up with their perfect device is mutually beneficial. This is doubly true for customers that have high budgets and even higher expectations. Thankfully the HP Premium website has been updated to make it easier than ever before to find the right top of the range device for your customers’ individual needs.

Cloud Vendor Spotlight: SimplySo, Filtered, and Cloudworks

By Katy Maley

You may not be fully aware, but Westcoast don’t just sell Microsoft products through CSP – there’s also a huge range of attached services that you can offer to your customers. These services act as complements to Microsoft products and show your customers that you can provide extra value to a transaction. 

‘The Big Pitch’ awards an extra £10,000 of marketing funds to innovative resellers

By Phil Lamplugh

It’s very exciting times here at Westcoast. On top of two huge promotions, we’re also looking to provide some extra funds for some great Microsoft marketing ideas. This is all a part of an initiative we’re calling ‘The Big Pitch’.

Westcoast’s Cloud Marketplace: An Introduction

By Tom Marwood

It’s safe to say that, over the last 18 months, CSP through Westcoast has risen at an astronomical rate. Currently we’re transacting over 140,000 seats across 400 of our Resellers and this is growing on a daily basis. One of the reasons why we’re getting such a demand from Resellers is the Westcoast Cloud Marketplace – so I thought I’d tell you more about it.

HP: Developing devices that pack a punch for power users

By Brendan Loughrey

In an increasingly mobile world, users are bowled over by the capabilities of new tablets and laptop PCs on the market. And for some, these devices are the perfect solution to their computing needs. However, some business users simply need more power, and only an HP Workstation can give it to them.

The latest range of HP Z Workstations are equipped to handle critical application, complex data and design. Enabling users to innovate without limits, expanding as their workflow grows. At Westcoast, we think HP’s latest Z Workstation range – which includes both traditional desktops and laptops – is a cut above the rest thanks to its superior technology and partnerships. It’s simply setting new standards.

Monetising Mobility

By Lee Prior

It’s not often in life you have a genuine “Eureka moment” but I had one whilst attending an ‘Accelerate your growth’ training session at HPE in Bracknell.

Being a Marketing person you might ask yourself “what was I doing at a sales training event?” So let me cover that off up front…I was spying, there I said it. I wanted to see how HPE delivered content to the Channel so that I could pick up some tips, make some contacts and perhaps even learn a thing or two about the products and services on offer, and boy did I learn!

As with most things in life familiarity does breed a certain level of…well if not contempt, then at least a lack of appreciation, and as somebody that writes and talks about IT in general and HPE in particular on a daily basis, I can be accused of sometimes losing sight of what the technology we eulogise about can do for businesses in the real world.

SPLA Update: Windows Server and System Centre 2016 moving to Core based licensing

By Imran Malik

Microsoft has changed the licensing model of Windows Server and System Centre from Processors to Cores on the 2016 versions – these were released on the 1st October 2016.

Here’s what you need to know

• The per core licence model replaces the processor licence model on the October SPUR
• Each physical processor needs a minimum of 8 core licences
• The price for 1 processor licence = price for 8 core licenses
• The media was available on VLSC from the 12th of October 2016 
• Both Windows Server Standard & Datacenter Editions provide support for unlimited Windows Server containers
• Windows Server Standard Edition requires all physical cores to be licensed in order to run one Windows Hyper-V container (or Virtual Machine)
• Windows Server Datacenter Edition requires all physical cores to be licensed in order to run unlimited Windows Hyper-V containers (or Virtual Machines)

WPC 2015 Recap

So, another Microsoft World Partner Conference (WPC) comes to a close. As usual it was a big mix of keynotes, breakout sessions, partner meetings and evening party/networking. This was a quiet year for big announcements, but Windows 10 and their CSP programme definitely took centre stage for Microsoft’s focus. The most value for me is very much the evening networking where you get to speak to peers in the industry and listen to their challenges and successes within their own businesses. When you say the word ‘party’ people instantly think of too much drink and revelry but typically these are all very well behaved and actually a lot gets done then, or maybe that was just us!...

Microsoft WPC - We’ve Made It!

So after all the hype and build up, we are finally here in Orlando and what a first couple of days it's been! For all the ladies out there (and some men), I hope you brought your hair straighteners because the humidity is causing havoc with the frizz!

Sunday started with a great session with Peter Davidson and the CSP tier-2 partners. We had some great discussions around the strategy for FY16 and all the great things we will soon be offering through CSP. Make sure you come and talk to us in the UK lounge so we can tell you more about what's to come.

It was great to meet lots of the UK partners at the welcome drinks on Sunday evening. I hope you all had fun and that you're putting your Westcoast WPC Survival Kits to good use after such a fun night!

I'm really looking forward to listening to some more inspiring keynotes and speeches as the week progresses. Despite us Brits showing considerably less emotion than our American cousins, I personally find it really hard to not get caught up with all the enthusiasm which you will see and feel when you come to talk to us about CSP, and how partnering with Westcoast will help you grow your cloud services business.

If you see us, don't forget to get a selfie with us for the chance to win a Surface Pro 3 by tweeting your pic and capturing the essence of WPC 2015 to @MSPartnersUK using #WPCUK.

Join us on our Westcoast @ WPC LinkedIn Group for the latest information and a chance to win £250 of vouchers. I look forward to seeing you throughout the week and at the big party tonight!

By Nicola Boswell – Cloud Product Manager at Westcoast Limited 

How HP’s Changes To Smart Quote Will Benefit You...

HP partners selling Enterprise Group solutions – servers, storage and networking - have been able to get access to special pricing through an online tool called Smart Quote. Soon there will be an important change being made to the system – will it affect you?

Currently, resellers can request a number of distributors to respond with pricing details, which the reseller would then look through and decide which to select.  From 1st July this will be changing; resellers making future pricing requests in Smart Quote will have to state their preferred distributor, meaning they will receive pricing information from one distributor instead of several.

So, if you’re a HP Partner, how will this benefit you?

The idea of having several distributors providing you with pricing may sound like good business  - keen pricing and fast response - but it can in fact be quite the opposite. Multiple companies competing for the same business can tend to focus on the larger opportunities, meaning lesser deals you place in Smart Quote don’t get such a quick response. Additionally, with so many responses and people following up with additional questions, you can easily be delayed in getting pricing over to their customer, which goes against the whole point of trying to provide a fast service to your customers in the first place. 

Let’s compare this with you stating Westcoast as your preferred distributor within the new version of Smart Quote.

By streamlining Smart Quote to stating Westcoast as your preferred distributor partner, you will be receiving a much simpler service.  Instead of getting multiple quotes and loads of incoming calls and emails asking for more details, you will get a single quote - making responding to requests faster and helping to ensure the pricing that you get is even better value

.

While we’re on the subject of speed, Westcoast is renowned for delivering pricing fast. There’s a good reason why we turn round pricing requests so swiftly; your customers often need pricing quickly, so the quicker we give a reply, the faster you can deliver a great value quote to your customer.

This simpler service for you also includes other areas such as;

Pre-sales; our industry-leading pre-sales teams can provide technical advice to help you give an expert service to your customers, guiding them on the best solution for their business – and thus winning more clients.

50-plus EG certified Account Managers and a dedicated BDM who will visit and work with you to help develop your business plan to grow your HP revenues.

Access to Solutions Lab and operational demonstration and education centre complete with HP EG demonstration  that’s yours to use – completely free of charge. 

Free marketing material - We even help you promote HP EG solutions with a range of rebrandable materials through GYM+.

So as you can see, by ensuring you state Westcoast as your preferred distributor when using Smart Quote, you’ll be building a loyal customer base who look to you as their IT expert, trusting your advice and loving your service. 

To find out more about the changes in Smart Quote and how Westcoast can help you Click Here 

Linking the questions you ask your Apple customers

In our last Apple post we gave you some suggestions as to what questions you can ask your customers to unlock further conversations, creating potential for a larger sales. This week we want to explore customer profiling a little more and give you something you can try out straight away with your customers.

Profiling your customers might be an approach that is completely alien to you or it maybe something at which you have become somewhat of an expert. Either way, our vision at Westcoast is to bring our customers together to collaborate on what those techniques may look like. Try new methods out. Share successes and challenges. But most of all, join us in becoming the experts in selling Apple Solutions.

We want to give you something you can try

out straight away with your customers.

We recommend remembering the process we call

C.H.A.I.N.

 

This is the process by which you determine your customers current situation, background, aims, pains and business needs. The result gives you a crystal clear understanding of who it is you are talking to.
You must ask the relevant questions in order to understand who you are talking to, what role does that person play and what is the environment for the company.

The idea behind using CHAIN is that by linking the the questions you ask your customer, you will start to…

 

build a solid foundation to understanding what

the full solution for that customer may be.

 

Here is the CHAIN model:
 

CURRENT SITUATION – what is their technical situation as it currently stands?

HISTORY – what is their company background?

AIMS – what is the purpose of the purchase? ISSUES – what problem is this purchase trying to fix?

NEEDS OF THE BUSINESS – what overall business need is this in response to?

A full Apple solutions goes beyond the the Apple Products themselves.We want to share with you what we do to uncover the solution. By doing this the customer benefits and you benefit by selling more products and services.

Next time we will to share with you some examples of solutions that could come from a sales conversation structured around CHAIN.

Until then we would love to know how you get on with trying this out.

Join in the discussion here!

 

The biggest mistakes when selling Apple products…

.... is when the focus is just on hardware.

The biggest mistake that we see when selling Apple products is when the focus is just on hardware. When the interaction between the reseller and the customer is transactional and that transaction is solely centred around hardware. You might think why is this such a mistake when you’ve managed to successfully sell your customer the hardware they needed or that you suggested for them.

In our experience, there is so much more that has to take place before anyone can even think of suggesting a piece of hardware or software. We are going to cover exactly what needs to happen over the next couple of weeks.

When you totally understand your customer’s situation you can then make recommendations as to how you can help them fix it with much more than just hardware.

When you get to know the customer, who they are and what they do – you start to build a clear idea of what problems they face. Only when you know what their ‘pains’ are, can you then start to ask the right questions about their situation. Moving conversations from hardware and more about the customer gives you a big advantage. You then start to understand more about not only their environment but also their position in the technology investment or simply just the organisation.

You might think that this would take more time than just a straightforward selling conversation, and you would be right. But what it does do is gives you much more clarity on what the solution to their problem may be and so your not just responding to their request for a new Mac or iPad.

“The conversation could take you onto training, software, accessories, planning, migration, servers, storage and so on.”

Knowing your customer’s situation inside out gives you the ability to open the conversation up to much more than just investing in a new piece of hardware. It gives you the chance to help your customer make the right decision on a whole solution rather than just one part of it.

The beauty of selling Apple solutions is that the more you learn about how powerful the Apple ecosystem is – the more you realise what it can do for you and your customers.

Let us know if this has been useful for you and please leave us a comment on what you think. If you are already doing this then what benefits are you already seeing?

Next time lets take a closer look at how to profile customers to make it easier to ask the right questions.

Until then try out some of the suggestions in this week’s blog and let us know how you get on.

The Westcoast Apple Team