Battle of the channel buses

Driving sales upward with Westcoast... and Steljes

When the rubber hits the road, things can get hot and heavy in the distribution game - not least when the sales pitches are driven by bus.

Westcoast's training bus (pictured, above) is back by popular demand in April, May and June, following the huge success of last year's Windows 8 Bus Tour, but it will be up against competition from interactive tech specialist Steljes, which has just bought its own.

Steljes' 7.5-tonne Technology on the Move machine - known, of course, as Tom (pictured below) - will be unveiled at its Shape roadshow in Manchester this month.

According to Steljes, Tom will be free for resellers to hire, and has been fitted with NEC video wall and mounts, a Smart interactive whiteboard system, a ProofVision 42in outdoor display, and a BenQ touchscreen display.

However, we don't think Westcoast's double decker has too much to fear from competition in the form of Steljes' "bus", which to our eyes looks more like a converted lorry.

Phil Bell, marketing manager at Westcoast, said: "Recent months have seen several exciting product launches from our key vendors. It is not easy for our resellers and their sales forces to find time for every training event and product launch, so we are bringing the training facility to them.

"We strongly believe that training is the key to growth for partners, while at the same time helping end-user customers to increase efficiency and productivity."

Westcoast's "training lab on wheels" heads out on the highway with new tech from HP and Microsoft, including the latter's new customer immersion experience, as well as convertible computers, tablets, printers and servers. Resellers can request the bus for onsite reseller training and end-user demos, with various modules from which to choose.