Westcoast opens up the potential of Cloud with HP

Wholesale distributor and HP CloudAgile partner Westcoast is opening up the potential of cloud computing for new users with an HP Converged Cloud solution. Through the investment, which exceeds £1million, Westcoast will empower resellers to offer reliable, cost-effective services via the cloud on a pay-per use basis.

Westcoast Ltd distributes leading IT brands to a broad range of resellers, retailers and office product dealers in the UK. The group has turnover in excess of £1billion and employs over 800 people in the UK and Ireland.

“IT is undergoing a revolution: we are moving from the era of on-site IT to IT in the cloud, and we want to support both,” says Duncan Forsyth, Managing Director, Westcoast. “HP Converged Cloud will enable us to deliver IaaS (Infrastructure as a Service) and SaaS (Software as a Service) for customers who want their IT on-demand, with fast deployment and minimal need for capital investment.”

Starting with SaaS, Westcoast will offer a range of reliable cloud services that will drive revenue for small and medium businesses. Resellers will be able to purchase and manage Microsoft Lync, Exchange and SharePoint, hosted in Westcoast’s IL3 data center facility, through a dedicated cloud portal. To enable them to start offering cloud solutions quickly and without the need for financial investment, resellers will be able to take advantage of current credit lines with the distributor. They will also be supported by a lucrative partner program with in-depth training and support.

A flexible, virtualised platform of HP ProLiant BladeSystem c7000 enclosures containing energy-efficient HP ProLiant BL460c Gen8 server blades with Intel Xeon processors will ensure that data is constantly available, while high capacity HP ProLiant DL360/380 Gen 8 rack-mounted management servers will support Westcoast’s virtualisation and ensure business continuity. High availability HP Virtual Connect FlexFabric 10Gb Ethernet Modules will simplify server management and boost capacity without increasing infrastructure footprint or energy costs.

As part of the HP Converged Cloud infrastructure, a storage area network (SAN) based on self-configuring, self-provisioning, self-optimising HP 3PAR StoreServ 7400 Storage systems will deliver the highest levels of resiliency, accessibility and performance, while an HP StorEver Tape Library will automatically create backup tapes for secure off-site archival. Intelligent HP 5400 Switch Series will deliver continuous network availability.
«Owning, managing and utilising a data center frightens many resellers,» says Michael Clifford, director, cloud computing, HP United Kingdom & Ireland. «HP Converged Cloud will enable Westcoast to demystify cloud for its resellers and make high quality cloud services easily available to anyone wishing to offer them.»