WStore aims for SME sales [email protected] Online reseller WStore has said it will grow licensing sales from its primary software vendors by up to 50 per cent within a year, following the creation of a new SME sales team. WStore recently formed

Licensing sales from WStore anticipates licensing sales growth

Online reseller WStore has said it will grow licensing sales from its primary software vendors by up to 50 per cent within a year, following the creation of a new SME sales team.

WStore recently formed a seven-strong sales force, managed by its software business manager John Gorton, to grow the software licensing arm of its business in the SME sector.

The reseller said it generated £6.7m from software sales last year, and that it expects to increase that figure by £4.3m within a year.

Tony Price, managing director of WStore, said the SME market is a key growth area.

“We want to increase our focus on sales from firms with fewer than 250 users, because we are traditionally an SME reseller,” he said.

WStore’s year-on-year growth for its Microsoft software licensing is currently 10 per cent, and the firm said it wants to expand that to 40 to 50 per cent in the next 12 months.

Price added that it also hopes to grow software licensing sales for McAfee, Symantec and Computer Associates by similar amounts, but faster than its Microsoft business.

“We may potentially see more growth with these vendors, in addition to Microsoft. It’s easier to grow them because their revenue figures are smaller, so time scales could also be shortened,” he said.

Siobhan Carroll, regional manager for Northern Europe at the Business Software Alliance, said: “This is encouraging news. It may indicate that businesses are taking the issue of software licensing seriously and seeing the importance of being fully compliant and legal.”