Westcoast has launched its first Microsoft online licensing tool since becoming an Authorised distributor last year.

The Licensing @ Westcoast (L@W) tool, aimed at sales of five licences or more, covers Microsoft’s extensive Open licensing range. Westcoast has claimed the tool provides resellers with a fast route to licensing sales, offering full pricing and product details.

Westcoast was first announced as a Microsoft distributor in 2006, after the software giant completed an in-depth review of its UK distribution line-up. The partnership saw the distributor supply the full range of Microsoft products and licensing with a particular focus on the SME and independent retail sector.

AJ Miller, marketing account manager at Westcoast, said: “We have been a Microsoft distributor for more than a year now and have just put in place our first Open licensing tool.”

Miller added that the tool also provides upselling opportunities because resellers can revert back to their Westcoast online account and add hardware options onto the licensing sale.

He said L@W works in two ways. “Resellers can search and select a product based on a part number and the tool will bring up the licensing options, or if they know what they are looking for they can browse the Office portfolio and find the particular version of the software that they need,” he said.

The distributor has been working with software developer Solarweb to develop the tool, powered by the vendor’s licenseme technology.

Barney Light, technical director at Solarweb, said: “The complex nature of software licensing programmes can be a challenge to navigate when selling licences to end users. Licenseme provides software sales teams with all the information and updates they need to sell the right Microsoft licensing products and programmes. This made it the perfect foundation for the L@W.”