CDW Gains An Edge

In one of our news stories (see page 4) this week, CRN Industry Editor Craig Zarley gives an update on the CDW SolutionEdge program, which was rolled out last September as a pilot program by the $5 billion IT product sales behemoth. As Zarley writes, CDW's business proposition to take over product sales in return for paying a local VAR an agent fee is finding a receptive audience among some solution providers. Tom Thibault, president of Thibault Associates, a 16-year-old Microsoft and Hewlett-Packard partner in Pleasant Hill, Calif., which has a solid services business, is one of those VARs. Thibault views the deal as an "evolution" in his business model, partnering with CDW to grow his services business, while offloading the handling of capital-intensive, low-priced hardware and software products business to a sales and logistics powerhouse.

Thibault says the deal opens the door for him to sell services to CDW's large client base. "The upside potential is significant," he said. "Think about our services revenue. If we could get one-tenth of [CDW's] client base in the Bay Area, it would be significant. That is the carrot: for us to broaden out our client base in terms of services. For CDW, it means they have someone down the street. If a client has a problem, we can literally go down the street and fix it."

Thibault says he is in the discussion stages, working with some accounts CDW is bringing to the table. "It makes sense for them to drill down further into the relationship with those accounts so they can lock them in," he said. "Clearly, there is a need for service and customer touch. This is as excited as I have been in 10 years. This is an opportunity to grow profitability."

There is a new wave of partnerships being formed between local resellers and national IT resellers such as CDW and PC Connection. These are changes being driven by the shifting IT product landscape. VARs have to ask themselves where they fit in this landscape and then make some hard decisions.

"I didn't look at this as making a deal with my biggest competitor," Thibault said. "I knew we had to change. I saw this opportunity as a win-win."

Sounds like the basis for a partnership.

What do you think of CDW's SolutionEdge program? Let me know at (781) 839-1221 or via e-mail at [email protected].