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?

Portable gaming: An industry on the move

By Carl Oxley

Ever since Nintendo launched the first Game Boy in 1989, the world of portable gaming has been witness to a very gradual but notable rise. As graphics improved, more games became available and, most importantly, with huge leaps in memory and the continuation of Moore’s Law, the consoles themselves became increasingly portable. As such, the market has undergone a consistent growth that has recently hit an unprecedented peak.

Securing your Hybrid Cloud/Multi-cloud Strategy

By Adam Hartley

Cloud technologies are no longer the leading edge done by early adopter companies. In fact, private clouds, hybrid clouds and multi-clouds are quickly becoming the de-facto standard among organisations across business verticals.

The major drivers for this migration to the cloud is lower price, scalability, global availability and the need for global availability with no downtime.

Unsurprisingly, Cloud Service Provider revenues grew steadily in 2016 with Amazon Web Services (AWS) growing its revenue to more than $12.2 billion, followed by Azure, Google Cloud Platform (GCP) and IBM Cloud.

Data, data everywhere - Securing the Internet of Things Q+A

By Lee Prior & Paul Harman






















Take a look around the typical home 10 years ago and you could probably count the number of devices connected to the internet on the fingers of one hand for the most part, but take a look around that same home today and you’re likely to run out fingers before you run out of devices. Computers, Phones, Games Consoles, TV’s even ligtbulbs, thermostats and doorbells in some cases, and these are going to be joined by a whole host of other things in the coming months and years.

Westcoast and HP Offer Customisation for Education

PRESS RELEASE

Distributor Westcoast has teamed up with HP to launch an exclusive customised-to-order (CTO) initiative for education-focused channel partners.

Created by Westcoast, the HP for Education (HPFE) configuration tool enables resellers, or their end-user schools, colleges and universities, to design and build their own bespoke HP desktop PCs - and then receive delivery within 48 hours of their order.

Paul Hamilton, Client Director, Westcoast, said: “This initiative represents a brilliant market opportunity for our partners and it brings the long-awaited benefit of immediacy to educational institutions.”

Westcoast Ignite – A fresh new vision

By Lee Prior

As the Marketing Manager for all things HPE here at Westcoast I’ve seen a lot of changes over the past 12 months. Acquisitions like Simplivity and Nimble have expanded the HPE offering, and added to an already deep roster that includes Aruba, Synergy, 3Par and Point Next not to mention industry leading Server and Storage products like Gen9/10 and the ever reliable MSA series.

With so much evolution happening so quickly it can be a challenge to keep up and make sure we’re serving up the information our partners need in a relevant and easy to use format, but we’ve been doing our best and think we’ve got a great tool in the shape of our brand new Westcoast Ignite Portal.

GDPR: Don’t let print provide a weak spot

KYOCERA Guest Post














A hot topic over the coming months is GDPR – General Data Protection Regulations.

GDPR is the result of four years of work by the EU to bring data protection legislation into line with the previously unforeseen ways that data is used.

The UK relies on the Data Protection Act 1998, introduced following the 1995 EU Data Protection Directive, long before digital technology became the norm. As well as addressing a need for clear rules in line with today’s workplace, GDPR introduces tougher penalties including fines of up to €20 million, or 4% of businesses global annual turnover (whichever is greater) for any breaches or non-compliance.

Unlock additional marketing funds with these Big Pitch top tips

By Phil Lamplugh

In the world of IT, it can be difficult for organisations to get seen. That’s why last year Westcoast launched The Big Pitch, and that’s why we’ve brought it back again. The premise is simple: we give your Microsoft marketing funding a boost, so that you can carry out bigger and more impactful campaigns.

Resellers can bid for up to £8000 of additional funding, and the process couldn’t be simpler. All you have to do is go to our dedicated webpage, fill out the application form and send it to us at MicrosoftMarketing@westcoast.co.uk. We’ll get back to you with some questions, and this will hopefully be followed by us accepting your proposal.

Westcoast scores hat-trick with gaming giants MSI, Gigabyte, and Steel Series

PRESS RELEASE

Trio select the distribution and supply chain specialist for UK wide partnership

UK based distributor and supply chain innovator, Westcoast, today reveals it has signed UK distribution deals with three of the world’s leading players in the gaming market; MSI, Gigabyte and Steel Series.

Gaming laptop manufacturers MSI and Gigabyte and peripherals expert Steel Series have selected Westcoast as their preferred distribution partner for the UK market, further strengthening the company’s standing in the gaming sector.

Westcoast Unveils New CSP Business Boosting Initiative

PRESS RELEASE

Distributor Westcoast has launched a brand new programme offering exclusive, long-term support for its CSP (cloud solutions provider) partners.

The Westcoast Cloud Development programme offers resellers a range of tailored benefits all designed to help support their CSP business and accelerate their growth in the cloud.

Partners signing up for the programme will move through a series of development levels - supported by Westcoast every step of the way. As they progress they will have opportunities to unlock additional benefits and rewards to further aid their cloud journeys.