Westcoast goes vertical
Distributor keen to mirror education success in healthcare market
Westcoast is eyeing new vertical markets, after its recently created education division saw growth of nearly 50 per cent in its first quarter.
The Theale-based distributor set up its five-strong Education Team in January, with the remit of helping its education-focused resellers grow their business.
It works primarily with its top five vendors in the education space: Apple, HP, Microsoft, Toshiba and Samsung.
Speaking to ChannelWeb, Alex Tatham, sales director at Westcoast, said: "Our first-quarter results, which show growth of 47 per cent, prove that if you focus on an area, you will get a lot out of it."
He added that Westcoast's team has uncovered "nuggets of information" that vendors do not usually talk about, such as preferential pricing for education-focused VARs.
"We are also able to help partners get properly accredited and become more involved in deals that perhaps they could not have got a look-in on before," he said.
Tatham said the education sector is still a positive place to be, despite the proposed budget cuts. "There is no way the ICT budgets in schools will be cut," he said. "There is still bucketloads of money in education and we are still in the weaker quarter for ICT spend."
He added that Westcoast's next big push will be into healthcare, following the success of its education focus.
"There will be a Westcoast health team in the second half of the year," he stated.
Softcat managing director Martin Hellawell said a vertical alignment in the public sector space is a good idea.
"We have a team of people focused on education and it makes sense that they talk to those in distribution focused on the same area," he said.