CDW Corporation is an American company founded by Michael Krasny in 1984. The company mainly provides software and information technology services and works using the business-to-business model. CDW’s services are available in over 150 countries. However, they are most popular in America, Canada, and United Kingdom. Mostly, private organizations, educational institutions, and some governmental institutes are customers of the company. CDW is one of the leading companies in IT solutions. The headquarters of the company are located in Lincolnshire, Illinois, United States.
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Title | Category | Description | Link | Address | Phone Number |
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General Information
HQ Address: | Lincolnshire, Illinois, United States |
Zip code: | 60069 |
Industry: | B2B IT products and services |
Products: | Desktops, servers, laptops, peripherals, software, telephony products, power, storage |
Founded: | 1984 |
Founder: | Michael Krasny |
Website: | cdw.com |
Where is CDW Corporation headquarters located?
The headquarters of CDW Corporation is located in Vernon Hills, Illinois, United States.
Address: 75 Tri-State International, Lincolnshire, IL 60069, United States
How do I contact CDW Corporation?
By following this link, you can get in contact with a specific department of CDW Corporation.
What does CDW CORP do?
CDW Corporation is one of the leading companies in providing information technology services and solutions. CDW Corporation was founded with the goal to help businesses by providing advanced software and hardware required for their growth. In general, the company provides software, telephony products, operating systems, peripherals, telecom services, and servers. Besides this, CDW also provides hardware components, including desktops, laptops, mobile devices.
Company History
Michael Krasny founded a company with the name MPK Computing in 1984. After some period of time, it became a Computer Discount Warehouse and after that, CDW. In 1993, CDW firstly became a publicly-traded company by IPO on Nasdaq. The company was ranked on Fortune 500 at 435th in 2001. In the same year, John Edwardson became the CEO and Chairman of the company.

In 2005, CDW started publishing a magazine on a quarterly basis named BizTech Magazine. The company created a distribution center of over 513,000 SQFT in 2006 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Company’s distribution center in Illinois is around 450,000 SQFT.
Berbee, which was a reseller of Microsoft, IBM, and Cisco’s products, was acquired by CDW in the last quarter of 2006. According to Wikipedia.com, this acquisition was CDW’s second-largest acquisition. Now, the company has 11 offices spread across six states of America.
In 2007, CDW was acquired by Providence Equity Partners and Madison Dearborn Partners for $7 billion. After this acquisition, CDW once more became a publicly-traded company in 2013. The company was registered on Nasdaq Stock Exchange under the symbol CDW. In 2011, CDW Canada was titled a Great Place to Work. Also, Tom Richards became the CEO of the company in 2011.
In 2014, CDW bought 35% of the stake in Kelway. Kelway was a British company providing information technology services. In 2015, CDW declared that they had completely acquired Kelway Limited. After this acquisition, CDW used Kelway as their British branch under the name CDW UK. In 2018, Fortune ranked CDW on Fortune 500 at 189th position. Christine Leahy became the CEO of CDW in 2019. CDW also acquired Scalar Decisions which was a Canadian information technology company.
What are the CDW values?
Guest Passion:
The company treats its customers very carefully. CDW firstly considers the ease of its customers and then anything else.
Trust:
The company also believes in the trust of its employees and customers. CDW wants its employees and the customers to believe in the company and to have an affection towards them.
Respect:
Respect is another value of CDW. The company knows that they work globally and have customers and employees from all over the world. That is why CDW wants everyone to respect everyone.
Innovation:
CDW also believes in innovation and advancement. This is the reason why they have been transforming in the coming time. CDW also knows that innovation is the only way to sustain.
CDW Corporation CEO and Key Executive Team
Name | Designation |
Christine A. Leahy | President and Chief Executive Officer |
Jill M. Billhorn | Senior Vice President, Corporate Sales |
Christina M. Corley | Chief Commercial and Operating Officer |
Collin B. Kebo | Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer |
Sona Chawla | Chief Growth and Innovation Officer |
Source: investor.cdw.com |
How did CDW become so successful?
Initially, CDW only started offering some hardware products, but later the company realized that they should be offering every service related to information technology so that they will be a go-to company for their customer. Also, this will help in establishing a strong bond with their customers. CDW started focusing on IT solutions that helped it grow this much.
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Another reason why CDW is so successful is that after its second IPO in 2013, CDW focused more on acquiring other companies and improving its area of services. Since then, the company has also improved its finances by reducing the debt and giving larger returns on investments. By this, investors became interested in the company. All of these things helped CDW to become this big.
What is the CDW business model?
The company’s business model is very straightforward. CDW is not a manufacturer of computer hardware products; rather, it only acts as a third person. CDW gets all of the hardware products from the companies like Nvidia, Dell, Lenovo, HP, etcetera, and then these products are provided to the customers.
Now, the question is why do these companies work with CDW? CDW has over 250,000 customers that are still increasing, and primarily the company’s customers have less than 5,000 employees. In short, CDW has a considerable customer base. The technology manufacturers like Dell and Lenovo want to sell their products more and more, and because of this, they are bound to work with CDW.
What are CDW’s competitive advantages?
- A strong relationship with its customers and the vendors. CDW’s customers are very loyal because the company provides all of the services any business needs. Also, the vendors are loyal to the company because they want to increase their sales. This is the biggest competitive advantage CDW has.
- The company has huge warehouses that allow it to have a huge inventory. So, when any product is facing a shortage in the market, CDW has it. This ultimately increases the company’s sales and popularity.
- CDW has its own three distribution centers allowing it to improve the supply chain. Also, the company has enough resources to market the products. CDW can also afford a huge sales team which helps it to sell more. Tech companies cannot afford this marketing, sales team, and well-organized supply chain because they have to focus on manufacturing.
What makes CDW’s business unique and hard to replicate?
CDW is only sustainable in the market because of its resources and huge customer base. The company has to spend on supply chain management, marketing, sales, and salaries. There is no competitor of CDW, and its business model is hard to replicate because it is impossible for any startup to afford the business model used by CDW.
Top 5 Biggest CDW competitors or Alternative
1. Best Buy
Best Buy is an American company manufacturing and providing consumer electronics. Richard M. Schulze founded Best Buy in 1966. As of 19th February, Best Buy’s stock price is around $97.7 and is a buy as of now. It is expected to reach above $125 in the coming 12 months. The highest prediction is $175, and the lowest is $82. Some investors also consider it a “Hold” stock. In general, if you want to invest long-term, it is worth it.
2. Dell
Dell is an American computer hardware manufacturing company. It was founded in 1984 by Michael S. Dell. In 2021, it was ranked 28th on Fortune 500. Dell’s stock price as of 19th February is $58.9 and currently, it may not be the best time to invest in it as the stock is overpriced. If you are interested in investing in Dell, you should wait until its price decreases. It is a great alternative to CDW if you consider the long-term investment.
3. FedEx
FexEx is a transportation company founded in 1971 and based in the United States. FedEx’s stock is listed on New York Stock Exchange and is a part of the DJTA component, S&P 100 component, and S&P 500 component. As of 20th February, its stock price is $222.2. This stock is considered volatile. That is why short-term investment may not be much profitable. If invested for a long time, this stock can be very profitable.
4. eBay
eBay is an American eCommerce company. Pierre Omidyar founded eBay in 1995. In 2021, the company was listed on Fortune at 276th rank. As of 20th February, Ebay’s stock price is $55.4 and it is expected to decrease in the coming time. So, that will be the best time to purchase it. According to the stock forecast, in the next 12 months, its price may reach $80. The current consensus rating of eBay is Hold.
5. Newegg
Newegg is an American retail company founded in 2001 by Fred Chang. Newegg’s headquarters are located in City of Lights, California, United States. Its stock is listed on the Nasdaq stock exchange. Mainly it produces computer hardware and consumer electronics. As of 20th February, its stock price is $5.85 and surprisingly, its all-time high was $46.6 in July 2021. Its price prediction for the coming 12 months is around $44.
FAQs:
1. When did CDW Corporation go public?
CDW Corporation became a publicly-traded company on 2nd July 2013. It is listed on the Nasdaq stock exchange.
2. Does CDW Corporation pay dividends?
CDW’s quarterly dividend price is $0.5 and its dividend yield is 1.1%.
3. Can you buy stock directly from CDW Corporation?
No, you cannot directly buy stocks from CDW Corporation. To invest in the company, a stock brokerage account is necessary.
Executive Summary
Michael Krasny founded the company because he was motivated to create something to help other businesses. CDW was founded 38 years ago, that is why it is a well-known and mature company. CDW has a powerful business model that helped them to sustain themselves in a competitive market.
Also, the company has ambitious staff that boosts the company’s performance. As of now, considering the past growth of the company, it looks that its future is also safe and sound. In fact, the company is working to outperform all of its competitors in the future.