The VARBusiness 500 never fails to produce impressive numbers. The collective revenue of this year's class is $378 billion, up 13 percent over last year. The threshold for entry into this exclusive club rose to $21 million, up 14 percent. Double-digit gains were posted by 247 companies, and 16 reported triple-digit growth--remarkable in any economic climate.
This year's VARBusiness 500 reveals how IBM Global Services (No. 1) plans to maintain its 11-year dominance of the list, how Groupware Technology (No. 431) made a remarkable one-year turnaround, stepping away from the brink of oblivion to become the list's fastest grower, and how the focused ambition of Incentra Solutions (No. 347) made it the highest new entry on this year's list.
The performance of these three companies is outstanding, but they're not alone. Many of the VARBusiness 500 have remarkable success stories worthy of attention and emulation. Take a look at some of the interesting stories of companies on this year's list.
Meridian IT Solutions (No. 169), a provider of telephony, software, network and storage solutions, grew an impressive 144 percent to $150 million in revenue. For a company of this size, it has a substantial international presence, and recently launched operations in Australia. Its triple-digit growth came after the acquisition of server and storage integrator Eakins Systems, but it's no fluke. Meridian boasts 26 years of continuous profitability.
MTM Technologies (No. 226) made a bold move two years ago. Its founder, Steven Rothman, wanted to expand the business beyond its reseller roots, so he brought in CEO Frank Alfano and a boatload of capital. Alfano went on a spending spree, acquiring other solution providers to transform MTM into a multithreaded service provider: telephony, security, software, infrastructure, storage and managed services. Revenue has grown from $60 million in 2003 to more than $100 million in 2005. Officially, MTM has recorded a 93.5 percent revenue increase on this year's VARBusiness 500, but its fiscal year ended early in the calendar year and its growth could be in the high triple digits.
EPartners (No. 292) continues its meteoric climb with the Midas touch of Howard Diamond, who grew his last company--Corporate Software--to a $2.5 billion business. In 2005, the company attacked the SMB software market with an integrated Microsoft package and a partnership with CDW. It pushed hard into health care with integrated software packages for community hospitals. And it partnered with peers to bring advanced backup and storage solutions to midtier clients. The result is an astounding 225 percent revenue jump to $65 million.
Reynolds and Reynolds (No. 57) isn't letting the struggling automotive industry dampen its sales. A stalwart of the VARBusiness 500 that fell just short of joining the billion-dollar club, its revenue grew 25.2 percent last year to $982 million, a remarkable feat given this company's sole focus on servicing car dealerships. While General Motors, Ford, Chrysler and their dealers struggle, Reynolds and Reynolds continues to bring its clients innovative products and systems that provide operating efficiencies and cost reductions.
ChoicePoint (No. 55) is the only new member of the VARBusiness 500 Billion-Dollar Club after posting gains of 16 percent that catapulted it over the magic 10-figure mark. What's truly remarkable about the ChoicePoint story is that it passed this milestone while sitting at the center of a nationwide identity-theft case. Overnight, ChoicePoint became the poster child for everything wrong with third parties that hold individual's personal data. Nevertheless, the company weathered the storm and continued its uninterrupted streak of year-over-year revenue gains.
There are scores of stories about innovation, ingenuity and ambition on the VARBusiness 500. While we hear all the time about small VARs who blink in and out of business, the companies on or near the 500 list understand what it takes to chart goals, navigate stormy sales cycles and exist for more than just keeping the lights on. These aren't merely successful companies; they're beacons for all to follow on the road to success.
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