VAR 500 Awards Event Photos

Fastest Growth Awards

In this category, we are honoring companies that had outstanding growth year over year on the VARBusiness 500. These were among the fastest-growing companies on the list. These companies were also selected on the merits of their business model: They had to be pure play solution providers.

Kirit Desai, Derive Technologies
Out of all the VARBusiness 500 companies, only one managed to post growth above 300 percent. Derive Technologies, a New York-based IT solution provider and network integrator, saw revenues jump from less than $20 million in 2000 to close to $87 million last year.

Chris Moody, Aquent
What started out more than 15 years ago as a type-setting outfit based in a Harvard University dorm room has evolved into the fastest-growing IT staffing, outsourcing and consulting firm on the VARBusiness 500. Last year alone, Aquent saw its revenue jump by 150 percent, from $40 million to more than $100 million, thanks to the acquisition of professional services firm Renaissance Worldwide.

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Scott Sargent, Accenture
It's one thing for a small company to increase sales by one-third year-over-year. But for a multinational corporation whose annual revenue reaches into the billions, increasing revenue at such a large rate is almost unheard of. In 2001, Accenture did just that, increasing its revenue by $3 billion, to $13.3 billion. That 29 percent year-over-year rate of growth surpassed virtually all of Accenture's larger peers and clearly put the IT consulting firm into a class of its own in 2001.

Vertical Limit Awards

VARBusiness wanted to honor companies that had dedicated themselves to specific industries. This award is dedicated to the origins of the VAR industry and the original VARBusiness 100 which listed the industry's leading vertically oriented VARs. In an era of specialization they demonstrated unparalleled excellence, technical capability and market knowledge. These companies know their customers and their customers' business better than anyone.

John Spotila, GTSI
Vertical market expertise: government
Founded in 1983, GTSI today is one of the most successful business-to-government solution providers, serving federal, state and local government customers worldwide. The company, which sells more than 250,000 products from 1,300 manufacturers, recorded $783.5 million in revenue in 2001.

Wendy Moore, TriZetto
Vertical market expertise: Health care
Despite the slow economy, health care solution provider TriZetto leveraged its vertical expertise to turn 2001 into a successful year, increasing revenue by close to 150 percent year-over-year. It was also among our fastest growing VARBusiness 500 solution providers, up more than 140 percent year-over year. The company's clients serve more than 100 million health plan members, or 40 percent of the insured population in the U.S.

Dave Liederbach, IBM Global Services
Vertical market expertise: manufacturing

IBM's prowess in retail and other fields is well known. One thing that makes it the pick of may customers in vertical industries is its detailed knowledge of customers in markets large and small. Take manufacturing for example. IBM takes this key vertical segment and boils it down ever further. It's automotive practice, for example, has developed a Automotive e-Business Framework that, in its own works, extends "the generic automotive process model in two dimensions: vertically and horizontally." Essentially, IBM blends the latest in technologies with best practices to help customers connect to system suppliers, development and technology partners and with their own consumers. It also helps them transform their businesses from regionally-focused organizations to global players with flexible business models so they may better compete in the shifting global economy.

Among other things, the company is helping Chrysler re-tool its production planning process with a Web-based solution and Ford launch something called the ePIM Initiatives that will help the global car giant better integrate its enterprise applications. IBM Japan, meantime, is even helping the Japan Automobile Manufacturer's Association build a Common Application Infrastructure.

Today, the company has solutions structured around to the industry's key business processes including design, build, marketing and sales, service and after sales, and the dynamic area of in-vehicle information systems and telematics.

Technology Leadership Awards

VARBusiness went in search of companies that were masters of technology. These organizations demonstrate exacting technical capabilities with leading edge technologies to deliver real world solutions for their customers. This dedication puts tremendous demands on their sales and support organizations. They are often the most sought-after VAR organizations in the marketplace. These categories are among the popular technologies sold so they must distinguish themselves among a large pool of competitors.

Jack McDonald, Perficient
Despite what you may have heard, e-business solution providers aren't dead. In fact, some of them, like St. Louis-based Perficient, are doing quite well for themselves. The company recorded strong growth in 2001, driven by the acquisition of two of its peers. And in doing so, it has won the respect of vendors like IBM, which recently tapped the e-business solution provider to co-author its recent red book on Web services.

John Pham, Acropolis
Technology leadership in Unix servers
Though it hasn't been an easy year for solution provider Acropolis, with declining revenue amid slowed customer spending, the company made big moves in the last year to strengthen its capabilities. Aside from shifting attention back to Fortune 500 accounts, the company has stepped up technical abilities to offer end-to-end solutions with 99.999 uptime. Today, the company is one of Sun's largest resellers of Sun Fire 6800 servers and boasts expertise in advanced E10000 and Sun Fire 15K solutions.

Tom Burger, NEC Business Network Solutions
NEC Business Network Solutions has clearly made a name for itself in networking. In fact the company, which is one of the largest Cisco Gold partners in the country, was recently recognized by its vendor partner for best year-over-year performance. On the strength of its offerings, the company brought in $431.2 million in revenue last year.

Editor's Choice Awards

The editors of VARBusiness scoured the list of 500 companies with a mission to select one company that embodies the true spirit of innovation of solution providers. We looked for a company that was nimble, possessed superior leadership skills and had a broad impact on the market far beyond its size and scope.


Tony Ferrigno, Alphanet

John Sheaffer, Sysix
Aside from managing to grow its own business during a slow economy, Chicago-based solution provider Sysix Technologies spent 2001 building alliances with a number of leading technology and solution providers that will ultimately help the company succeed in the future. Aside from launching a start-up leasing and financing organization and acquiring an e-business specialty organization, the company, under the leadership of president John Scheaffer, became founding member of the Solutions Consortium, a combination of companies that work together as a single resource for mid-sized clients looking for eBusiness, ERP, CRM, Supply chain management, and business intelligence/data warehousing solutions, as well as enterprise content management. In a little more than a year of launch, the consortium has already delivered solutions to more than 20 clients.

Steve Mack, Inforte
Two years ago, Inforte CEO Philip Bligh appeared on the July 24, 2000 cover of VARBusiness in a special issue that showcased the 125 largest e-business professional services companies in North America. Since then, most unfortunately have imploded. But not Inforte. Although sales continue to struggle,they were off by roughly a third in the first quarter of this year,the plucky Chicago company has managed to get its utilization rates almost back up to where they were when the dot com bubble crashed. Moreover, the company has repurchased shares of its own stock and posted a profit. More recently, it announced "comfort" with its June quarter and full year 2002 revenue and earnings per share guidance given back in April, though it did add that the third quarter is projecting weaker now than two months ago, thus prompting the company to lower 3Q02 guidance by the amount of the 2Q02 increase. That leaves its full year net revenue guidance unchanged at $36.0 million.

By positioning itself at the high-end of the market, demonstrating expertise in key vertical markets, top technology disciplines including CRM, and amassing broad global reach, Bligh has managed to sustain the company where others failed. He's focused on critical partnerships, eschewed new models that did not suit his needs and surrounded himself with good people.

It's not fancy, but it is commendable in times that demand sensible, level-headed management.

Corporate Climbers Awards

VARBusiness not only wanted to recognize revenue growth but also wanted to honor companies that climbed dramatically in the ranking of the VARBusiness 500. So these companies not only had to grow faster than their competitors and peers but they had to climb up the ranking faster. These companies represent a special breed of fast-growing organizations. Again, our editors looked at pure play solution provider models for this category.

Craig Alexander, Dimension Data
While recent history has shown that large-scale roll-ups aren't a guarantee for success, the folks at Dimension Data North America appear to be off to a good start. Despite a poor economy that stunted growth for so many of its peers, the $2.5 billion organization went on a U.S. buying spree in 2001, scooping up Proxicom, Integrated Systems, Data Comm Systems Group and a number of other regional players. In the process the company's U.S. operations increased revenue to the tune of $408 million and jumped 220 spaces on the VARBusiness 500.

Michael Schweitzer, The RAM Group
For this Toronto-based company, founded almost two decades ago as a low-tech supplier of paper, printer ribbons and diskettes and evolved into an IT solution provider, 2001 was a breakout year. The company, which found itself in a strong position thanks to conservative growth and smart management, went on an acquisition spree, scooping up several of its struggling peers in the Toronto area. In the process, the company increased revenue by close to 100 percent last year and jumped 177 spots on the VARBusiness 500.

Lifetime Achievement Award


Sonny Chabra, AMC

Vanguard Award

Scott Sargent, Accenture
VARBusiness went in search of a company that represents unqualified leadership. Today we bestow the award on one of the industry's largest solution and services provider, Accenture, an organization that has had a dramatic impact on the industry. While most IT companies are no doubt happy to see the end of 2001, arguably the most challenging period in recent business history, one solution provider in particular saw the past year as a series of defining moments. Amid revenue slowdowns, profit warnings and bankruptcies, Accenture continued to grow its business and attract new clients last year, generating $2.78 billion in earnings in 2001. Not bad for a company that debuted anew one year ago with a name no one had ever heard of and a strategy that differed from most of its traditional Big Five competitors. Even though Accenture has the size and breadth of services to be considered an end-to-end solution provider, with more than 75,000 people working in 110 offices worldwide, it also recognizes the importance of a strong network of friends, partners and affiliates whose products and services complement its core offerings.

Executives of the Year

These individuals are not only enduring figures on the VARBusiness 500, they embody what it takes to survive and thrive in the channel: Entrepreneurial Achievement. VARBusiness selected two individuals who have made an imprint on the solution provider community. We looked for entrepreneurs who made the ultimate leap from hard-charging business builder to savvy business managers. These individuals make technology work and all do it for a wide range of customers and markets.

Terry Ozan, Cap Gemini Ernst and Young
Terry Ozan's greatest asset may be foresight. While still leading Ernst and Young's consulting business, he was among the first Big Five executives to recognize the need to split its business from accounting and auditing work. As luck would have it, the decision to merge with European giant Cap Gemini in late 1999 came at a perfect time, several years before the debacle known as Enron put the spotlight on Big Five firms and sent other Big Five competitors such as Andersen, PricewaterhouseCoopers and Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu scrambling to find ways to spin off their lucrative consulting businesses. More recently, the company established a new mantra for its clients and employees: Don't just blame the economy,defy the economy. Under Ozan, Cap Gemini Ernst and Young has been doing just that, with more than $2.6 billion in revenue last year.

Ned Strigham, SBI and Company
With the high tech economy at a basic standstill, many CEOs have put expansion plans on hold. They have deep-sixed projects, put off mergers and acquisitions and done anything they could to take risk out of their business. Not Salt Lake City-based SBI and Company. While others retreated, the privately held company expanded through choice acquisitions and reasonable gambles. After the high-profile collapse of MarchFirst, other companies were too afraid to step in and bid for some of the choice assets that survived. Not SBI, which picked up new accounts, new managers and new capabilities for a song when it made a play for the failed Web integration roll up company. Later, SBI again strengthened its hand when it bought assets from Emerald Solutions. That deal gave it additional IBM and wireless skills, plus new customers, too. More recently, SBI and Company have expanded yet again. In May the company acquired WebFlow, a deal that launches the company into the SAP market and the product market for the first time.

VARBusiness recognizes Stringham for taking calculated risks that have paid off. It's also important to note how he's guided the company, which began life in the late 1990s focused on Baan implementation projects. Stringham has successfully kept the company on a growth path that has produced solid growth and profits at a time when others have folded up or retreated. He resisted tempting offers to take the company public before it was ready and he's enhanced its position in markets around the globe.