Explore jobs
Find specific jobs
Explore careers
Explore professions
Best companies
Explore companies
CDW history
CDW company history timeline
Frustrated and in need of cash, he decided to sell his computer system in 1984.
CDW was originally incorporated in 1984 as "MPK Computing" by its founder Michael Krasny.
In November 1985 he published his first national advertisement in PC World magazine.
By 1985 Krasny found that he was selling many computer systems to a single buyer, a Chicago entrepreneur who simply resold them by mail at markups of about $300 per machine.
Krasny soon started to buy and sell wholesale and publish a mail-order catalog; he opened a retail showroom in Chicago in 1989.
CDW's gains in 1991 displayed the value of the company's formula for success.
That simple strategy generated sales of $176 million in 1992 and $271 million in 1992, about $6.3 million and $13.55 million, respectively, of which was netted as income.
The company became CDW in 1993, when it started to sell stock to the public.
Krasny took the company public in 1993 after changing the name from Computer Discount Warehouse to CDW Computer Centers.
1993, CDW completed first IPO, being listed on the NASDAQ market.
Berbee was founded in 1993 by James G. Berbee and grew to over 300 million USD in revenue and more than 800 employees.
CDW posted an impressive 52 percent gain in revenue in 1994 (to $413 million), and enjoyed record operating profits of $23 million.
1994: CDW begins selling IBM products.
By 1995 CDW was marketing 20,000 items through its catalogs, had a 250-member sales force, and boasted a database of nearly one million customers and prospects.
To the surprise of many analysts, CDW maintained rampant growth throughout 1995.
CDW broadened its marketing effort in 1995 with the establishment of an "outbound" telemarketing department to contact and sell to prospects.
1995, CDW.com was launched.
That effort, combined with the 30-plus million catalogs it shipped out every year, was expected to boost 1996 sales.
CDW also planned to launch an Internet marketing program in 1996.
The company was also dealt a minor blow in November 1997, when Compaq Computers announced its intention to begin marketing its products directly to consumers.
In addition to redesigning its logo and its web site, CDW launched a television and print ad campaign targeted at small and mid-size businesses in October 1998.
Although training such a large workforce put a temporary strain on the company's profits, CDW's revenues did not miss a beat, with sales increasing 43 percent in the third quarter of 1998.
In November 1999 CDW installed a 500-member sales team in a new office in downtown Chicago.
By the year 2000 the company had plans in place to create an additional 500 positions, with the aim of having a total sales force of 1,100 by the end of 2000.
According to Forbes, it is considered one of the Top 2000 Largest Public Companies in the World.
As overall Internet sales declined, and the company's competitors fought for market share, CDW saw its customer base increase by 15 percent in 2001.
Although sales figures did dip slightly during this period, CDW's continued emphasis on direct sales, bolstered by a sales team that exceeded 1,200 by 2002, put the company in position to emerge from the economic slump with its profit margins intact.
It was CDW's second major acquisition after purchasing Micro Warehouse in September 2003.
In 2005, CDW launched BizTech magazine, which it publishes on quarterly basis.
In October 2006, Berbee accepted an $175 million all-cash acquisition offer from CDW. It became a division of CDW and is now known as CDW Advanced Technology Services.
In early 2006, CDW opened a 513,000-square-foot (47,700 m) distribution center in North Las Vegas, Nevada.
In 2007, CDW went private, being purchased by the private equity firms Madison Dearborn Partners and Providence Equity Partners.
The Berbee Voice-Over IP software product group, creator of the InformaCast family of IP notification solutions, was spun off to form the new company Singlewire Software in April, 2009.
CDW Canada was recognized by the Great Place to Work Institute as one of the best workplaces in Canada in 2011, ranked 25th in the category of large and multinational companies.
In 2013, the company went public again through an initial public offering on the NASDAQ market under the name CDW Corporation.
On 3 August 2015 the company announced that it had acquired the remaining 65 percent of Kelway Ltd., a London based multinational business with significant presence in the IT sector.
The vision and strategic direction of CDW's leadership team led to net sales of more than $14 billion in the trailing 12 months ending March 31, 2017.
As of 2018, CDW ranked 189th on the Fortune 500 list of the largest United States corporations by revenue.
In 2019, it acquired Canadian solutions provider Scalar Decisions and Aptris.
Annual Net Sales (2020): $18 billion
Fortune 500 Industry (2020): Information Technology Services
For the trailing twelve months ended March 31, 2021, the company generated Net sales of approximately $19 billion.
Rate how well CDW lives up to its initial vision.
CDW jobs
Do you work at CDW?
Is CDW's vision a big part of strategic planning?
CDW history FAQs
Zippia gives an in-depth look into the details of CDW, including salaries, political affiliations, employee data, and more, in order to inform job seekers about CDW. The employee data is based on information from people who have self-reported their past or current employments at CDW. The data on this page is also based on data sources collected from public and open data sources on the Internet and other locations, as well as proprietary data we licensed from other companies. Sources of data may include, but are not limited to, the BLS, company filings, estimates based on those filings, H1B filings, and other public and private datasets. While we have made attempts to ensure that the information displayed are correct, Zippia is not responsible for any errors or omissions or for the results obtained from the use of this information. None of the information on this page has been provided or approved by CDW. The data presented on this page does not represent the view of CDW and its employees or that of Zippia.
CDW may also be known as or be related to CDW, CDW Corp, CDW Corporation, CDW LLC and Cdw Corporation.