CDW
Introduction
Headquartered in Lincolnshire, Illinois, United States, CDW is an information technology provider. Its services include providing information technology (IT) services to several top brand companies across all sectors and industries. CDW is no doubt one of the key players in the information technology industry with myriads of achievement in its archives. However, this paper tends to give and provide a thorough analysis of why you may want to give CDW a thought, or perhaps, opt for it as an information technology (IT) provider for your company, or recommend it to other entities needing its services. Thus, in its entirety, this paper will thoroughly address the following: CDW’s historical snapshot, its business model and management, its product listings, its pros and cons. Additionally, it will provide a concise conclusion that wraps up all addressed points for simple and easy understanding.
Historical Snapshot
Founded in 1984, approximately 38 years ago by Micheal Krasny who was prompted by the desire to sell out his computer products to prospective and interested consumers, and thus, CDW was birthed. However, according to research and history, CDW was initially incorporated as MKP Computing, nonetheless, following the expansionary model which transfigured the company into becoming a full-blown warehouse for storage of computers, the cognomen MKP Computing was then re-branded to CDW.
In September 2003, CDW purchase a Micro Warehouse, and that literally marks CDW’s first ever major purchase and acquisition. Growing with the same pace, CDW released BizTech Magazine to publish on a quarterly basis.
However, during the early period of the year 2006, a distribution center amounting to the landmass of over 513,000-square-foot was opened by CDW in Las Vegas, Nevada. Following the grand opening of the landmass in Nevada, the Company opened another distribution in Vernon Hills, Illinois, with the landmass amounting to a total of 450,000 square feet.
In 2006, October, CDW also acquired an American company that was one of the notable key players in the American IT industry, under the name Berbee Information Networks Corporation. Although, before the acquisition, Berbee Information Networks Corporation was a privately owned company with its headquarters situated in Fitchburg, Wisconsin. Its branches are scattered across the United States including states like Illinois, Indiana, Minnesota, Michigan, Ohio, and Wisconsin, the company has over $300 million in revenue under the leadership of its founder, James G. Berbee before it was eventually acquired by CDW with a tune of 175 million USD through an all-cash acquisition offer. And since its purchase, Berbee remains a subsidiary of CDW with a specialization in offering CDW Advanced Technology Services.
However, private equity based in the axis of Chicago, the United States with the name, Providence Equity Partners and Madison Dearborn Partners came on October 17th, 2007 to acquire CDW at a fair price of $7 billion. The company began to sell on the NASDAQ market, on July 2, 21013 under the company’s umbrella brand name, CDW Corporation. CDW Finance and CDW LLC became fully owned /subsidiaries.
In 2011, CDW was ranked among the best place to work from research carried out by Great Place to Work Institute. As a matter of fact, CDW emerges 25th in the multinational and large-scale business categories. And as expansion began to widen the scope of the company, the company planted more branches across the world to solve the need for its accessibility. In Canada for example, CDW was incorporated as CDW Canada Inc., and it’s situated at Etobicoke, Ontario.
Following its 35% of Kelway Ltd’s share purchase, CDW made a public announcement on the 3rd of August, 2015 that it had purchased the 65% remaining share of Kelway Ltd which was then one of the most sought-after IT companies based in London.
In 2018, Fortune 500 list ranked CDW as the 189th largest company with the largest revenue in the entire United States.
And finally, in 2021, CDW successfully acquired Sirius Computer Solutions Inc.
Business Model & Management
CDW as a company operates in two different segments unlike other privately owned and established companies whose only focus is solely built around profit maximization. As a result of the vastness of CDW’s customer base whose needs vary in all aspects, CDW has built in two separate models to ensure all clients’ needs are met based on their individual differences. Hence, the for-profit and non-profit business model was built.
CDW for-profit model
Although, like every other privately owned organization whose sole aim and business goal focus on profit maximization, CDW had grown its financial strength from a low and meager level since its inception to a viable level cutting across its various financial edges such as revenue, operating income, total asset, and total equity which will be addressed in the succeeding lines. However, in spite of its for-profit model style of business, CDW had taken a step outside the box and tended to be distinct from all other privately owned companies; it is thus to this end that the CDW Non-profit sector was birthed.
CDW Non-profit model
The CDW Non-profit sector was established in 2017 with the sole aim of providing affordable and easy-to-access information technology (IT) related tools and services across all major sectors of the economy offering social services such as governmental departments, social welfare organizations, NGOs, religious and other not-for-profit companies. The CDW Non-profit sector clients include but are not limited to the Salvation Army, Aids Healthcare Foundations, PCAOB, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Brooklyn Institution, and the American Heart Association.
Operating Model
CDW offers three major value propositions to all of its clients and these include performance, customization, and brand/status (Cleverism, n.d.). The three value propositions are addressed as follows:
1. Performance: CDW helps its customers to boost their companies’ performances by providing tools which stabilize and aid performance, and by extension cut down expenses that could be demanded through their individual software providers like Microsoft, and Apple. A typical example was a client who got charged 10 million USD for non-compliance by Microsoft, however, when the client approached CDW for a solution, a tool was recommended that technically reduced the non-compliance charges from 10 million USD to 3 million USD.
2. Customization: The seamless and amazing customization at CDW was made possible, thanks to its ever-dedicated and experienced team who are market-savvy and are equipped with the technical know-how of their customers hence, giving them the best services in proportion to their respective needs. All CDW products and services, are thus tailored to meet the needs of the CDW market base which is built with different clients from sectors like education, health, engineering, manufacturing, et cetera.
3. Brand/status: Having won several awards both local and international to its belt since its inception, CDW has no doubt built for itself a strong and viable brand over the years. With its total revenue valued at 12.9 billion USD, and a team of 11,500 employees offering vast product suites which serve over 100,000 products from different top and aspiring brands tailored to meet the needs of its ever-increasing client base of 250 thousand from more than 150 different countries. These products are, however, from major companies like Apple, EMC, Dell, APC, Google, IBM, HP Enterprises, Samsung, Lenovo, Microsoft, and Symantec, amongst others (Cleverism, n.d.).
Chain of Supply
CDW utilizes a seamless and reliable chain of supply to cater to and provide uninterrupted service for its customers. The supply mechanism may include CDW partnering with various software publishers and manufacturers, leveraging its dedicated sales team, its digitalize website, social media, and advertising channels to reach out to all of its clients while ensuring user satisfaction.
Management Team
Name: Christen A. Leahy
Position Held: Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and President
Educational Background: LLB – Boston College; Law School – Brown University.
Name: Dennis G. Berger
Position Held: Senior Vice President (SVP) and Chief Co-Worker Service Officer
Educational Background: BBA – Northeastern University; MBA – Washington University
Name: Jim Michel
Position Held: Senior Vice President (SVP), Strategy and Marketing
Educational Background: LLB in Law University of St. Thomas, Mitchell Hemline School of Law
Name: Neal Campbell
Position Held: Senior Vice President (SVP), Strategic Solutions and Services
Education Background: Bachelor of Science in Electrical and Electronic Engineering – Bradley University; MBA in Finance and Marketing – Northwestern University.
Financials
As of 20212, according to Forbes, CDW has the below figures in its annual financial statements:
Revenue: 20.8 billion USD
Operating Income: 1.42 billion USD
Net Income/Profit: 988.6 Million USD
Total assets: 13.2 billion USD
Total equity: 706 million USD
Products and Services Offerings
CDW offers products and services in the below IT areas
Servers
Desktops
Software
Power
Storage
Telephony
Peripherals
Pros
Two business models to cater to different customers (For-profit and Non-profit model).
Health Insurance for Employees
Dental Insurance for Employees
Swift and Uninterrupted Chain of Supply
Work/Life Balance
Highly versatile and tech-savvy tools
Dedicated Team of Talented Staff
Cons
Resources can be sometimes tricky
Some CDW products are quite expensive
Slow response to an email inquiries by customers
Conclusion
Based on the above comprehensive and detailed analysis of CDW, I am sure this piece has been able to address all the notable points promised to be looked into in the introductory part of this article. Additionally, if you have thoroughly absorbed all the details entailed above, deciding whether or not CDW is a good fit for your business would be less of a conundrum.
