CDW Corporation
CDW Corporation is a Fortune 500 multi-brand IT solutions provider aggregating hardware, software, and managed services from 1,000+ vendors for over 250,000 customers — including 90% of Fortune 1000 — across Commercial, Government, Education, Healthcare, and SMB segments in the US, UK, and Canada.
- Company typePublic
- Founded1984
- HeadquartersVernon Hills, United States
- Headcount5,001–10,000
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingServices
What CDW Corporation does
CDW Corporation is a Fortune 500, S&P 500-listed multi-brand IT solutions provider (NASDAQ: CDW; IPO June 2013) founded in 1984 and headquartered in Vernon Hills, Illinois. The company aggregates hardware, software, and professional/managed services from 1,000+ vendor brands — including Apple, Microsoft, HPE, Cisco, IBM, Palo Alto Networks, Adobe, and ServiceNow — into a single procurement vehicle for over 250,000 customers annually, including 90% of Fortune 1000 companies, with 95% of revenue generated in the United States and additional operations in the United Kingdom and Canada. Effective January 1, 2026, CDW reorganized into three reportable customer segments — Commercial, Government (CDW-G), and Education — and serves adjacent verticals including Healthcare, Financial Services, Retail, and Small Business. FY2025 net sales reached $22.4 billion (+6.8% YoY), with Q1 2026 net sales of $5.68 billion (+9.2% YoY).
The core operating platform combines a transaction-heavy e-commerce and account portal (cdw.com) with a verticalized enterprise field-sales motion and a network of subsidiaries that extend capability: Mission Cloud (AWS Premier Tier Services Partner) for cloud and AI services, Focal Point Data Risk (acquired 2021) for cybersecurity and cloud security consulting, and Enquizit (acquired 2023) for cloud and managed services. Differentiated offerings include the Strategic Application Modernization Assessment (SAMA) for federal agencies and the Mission Cloud AI Suite (AIM, Quick 5x5x5, AI Landing Zone, Fixed-Fee Chatbot MVP, Agent-Enabled Chatbot Limited Pilot). The company is concurrently executing 'Geared for Growth', an AI-first multi-year internal transformation announced in May 2026 by CEO Christine A. Leahy targeting $100-200M in annual run-rate cost savings by 2027-2028.
CDW's revenue model is dominated by hardware resale (71.6% of FY2025 revenue) at low gross margins (~5-7%), with software, cloud, and services together contributing ~36% of total gross profit. The model is a hybrid of high-volume transactional e-commerce (SMB and individual buyers), quote-based enterprise/government/education contracts (multi-year), and recurring managed services. Pricing is SKU-list-based on cdw.com with quote-based enterprise contracts. Capital return has been disciplined — approximately $8.4 billion returned to shareholders since the 2013 IPO through repurchases and dividends, with a $1 billion buyback authorization increase announced in May 2026 — and the company maintains a $2.88B senior unsecured credit facility (December 2025) to support working capital and opportunistic M&A.
CDW Corporation firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- CDW Corporation
- Legal name
- CDW Corporation
- Website
- https://cdw.com
- Company type
- Public
- Founded year
- 1984
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 5,001–10,000 employees
- Short description
- CDW Corporation is a Fortune 500 multi-brand IT solutions provider aggregating hardware, software, and managed services from 1,000+ vendors for over 250,000 customers — including 90% of Fortune 1000 — across Commercial, Government, Education, Healthcare, and SMB segments in the US, UK, and Canada.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Where CDW Corporation is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Vernon Hills
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices3 records
Markets served
CDW Corporation business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Supply Chain, Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure
Revenue model
- Hardware resale: Resale of hardware (servers, storage, networking, laptops, desktops, peripherals) representing 71.6% of 2025 total revenue; largely transactional/shippable product sales with low gross margins (~5-7%).
- Software resale and licensing: Resale of third-party software licenses (Microsoft, Adobe, ServiceNow, etc.) and SaaS subscriptions across the customer base. Software, cloud, and services together contributed approximately 36% of total gross profit in 2025.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Unit Pricing | Pay-as-you-go | Eaton Tripp Lite cables sold via CDW.com with list pricing displayed per SKU and volume-tier discounts visible on category pages (e.g., Tripp Lite 1ft Cat6 patch cable listed at $5.75). |
| Other | Multi-year contract | Enterprise/Government/Education IT solutions sold via quote-based contracts with negotiated pricing. |
Go-to-market motion5 records
CDW Corporation product offering
Product offeringCore offering
CDW is a multi-brand value-added IT solutions reseller that distributes hardware (servers, storage, networking, laptops, desktops, peripherals), resells third-party software licenses, and delivers professional/managed services spanning cloud, cybersecurity, data center, and AI to enterprise, government, education, and healthcare customers. The offering combines the cdw.com e-commerce and account platform with verticalized sales coverage and dedicated government (CDW-G) and cloud-services (Mission Cloud) divisions.
Product overview
CDW Corporation is a multi-brand Fortune 500 IT solutions aggregator rather than a single unified software product: its offering combines a hardware, software, and networking distribution catalog (Laptops, Desktops, Monitors, Printers, Networking, Software) with the CDW Amplified Services portfolio and dedicated industry divisions. The architecture is platform-plus-modules: the cdw.com commerce and account platform is the unifying layer, onto which the CDW-G (Government) division layers federal-focused services such as the Strategic Application Modernization Assessment (SAMA), while the Mission Cloud subsidiary layers AWS-based cloud and AI services (the Mission Cloud AI Suite). The Geared for Growth AI-First initiative overlays all of these, embedding AI across end-to-end internal and customer-facing processes to deliver $100-200M in run-rate savings by 2027-2028. The combined portfolio reached $22.4 billion in net sales for fiscal 2025 and serves enterprise, government, education, and healthcare customers across the United States, United Kingdom, and Canada.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- CDW-G (CDW Government): Government-focused IT solutions division serving federal, state, and local government agencies.
- Mission Cloud
Products and services
- CDW IT Solutions Distribution (Hardware, Software, and Services) Core e-commerce and solutions platform offering hardware (laptops, desktops, monitors, printers, networking), software licensing, and end-to-end IT services to enterprise, government, education, and healthcare customers across the US, UK, and Canada. Operates through the cdw.com commerce site, account portals, and a network of 15,000+ coworkers serving over 250,000 customers including 90% of Fortune 1000 companies.
- CDW-G (Government Division) Specialized government division of CDW serving federal, state, and local agencies, providing video and collaboration technology deployments, agentic AI solutions for the public sector, and Strategic Application Modernization Assessment (SAMA) services to help agencies plan cloud migrations.
- Mission Cloud (a CDW company) AWS Premier Tier Services Partner acquired by CDW, providing cloud consulting, managed services, and the Mission Cloud AI Suite (AIM, Quick 5x5x5, AI Landing Zone, Fixed-Fee Chatbot MVP, and Agent-Enabled Chatbot Limited Pilot) on AWS.
- Mission Cloud AI Suite (AIM, Quick 5x5x5, AI Landing Zone, Fixed-Fee Chatbot MVP, Agent-Enabled Chatbot Limited Pilot) Five complementary AI offerings guiding organizations from AI strategy to production-ready software deployment, including AIM, Quick 5x5x5 rapid AI deployment, AI Landing Zone cloud architecture, Fixed-Fee Chatbot MVP, and Agent-Enabled Chatbot Limited Pilot.
- Strategic Application Modernization Assessment (SAMA) Federal-customer service led by chief architect Greg Peters that helps government agencies evaluate application portfolios across 26 dimensions before undertaking cloud migrations or digital transformations, delivering interactive dashboards.
- CDW Amplified Services Suite of value-added IT services including managed services, consulting, deployment, and support that complement CDW's hardware and software distribution; serves enterprise, small business, government, and healthcare customer segments.
- CDW Agentic AI for the Public Sector Agentic AI offerings introduced at Google Cloud Next 2026 and led by CDW-G to bring agentic AI capabilities to federal, state, and local government agencies and contractors.
- CDW Small Business Technology Site Curated e-commerce destination for small business hardware deals, software, services, and digital assistant deployment guidance.
- CDW Authorized Apple Reseller (Apple Premium Business Partner) Hardware Offering Configured and customized Apple hardware (including MacBook Air with M5 chips) sold to enterprise teams through CDW's Apple Premium Business Partner reseller relationship.
Quantifiable outcome
- FY2025 net sales of $22.4 billion (+6.8% YoY); software, cloud, and services now ~36% of total gross profit; non-GAAP diluted EPS of $10.02.
- +4 more outcomes
Companies that use CDW Corporation
Customer profileNamed customers8 records
Segments7 records
Ideal customer profiles4 records
CDW Corporation technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration5 records
AI capability13 records
Feature4 records
CDW Corporation partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Eleven partnerships are on record, tiered core, minor and flagship.
- Templar ShieldcoreTemplar Shield and CDW announced a strategic partnership on January 5, 2026, to deliver global risk, security, operational technology, and AI governance solutions on the ServiceNow AI platform. Templar Shield sells and delivers under CDW's global contracting model, combining CDW's worldwide reach with Templar Shield's specialized ServiceNow expertise across integrated risk management, security operations, AI control tower, and operational technology management domains; targets critical infrastructure, utilities, energy, healthcare, and manufacturing sectors with compliance to NERC, IEC 62443, NIS2, NIST and ISO 27001 frameworks.
- Focal Point Data RiskcoreCDW acquired Focal Point Data Risk on August 2, 2021, expanding CDW's portfolio in data risk management services and security services. Focal Point brought expertise in security consulting and cloud security across regulated industries including government, finance, and healthcare. The acquisition emphasized a cloud-first approach and improved customer data protection.
- StarTech.comminorStarTech.com validates products in its Innovation Lab and distributes through IT partners including CDW, Amazon, Ingram Micro, TD SYNNEX, and D&H. CDW listed as a distribution partner for StarTech.com's industry-first USB4 Universal Docking Station.
- IBMcoreCDW mentioned as a supporting partner for IBM Z and IBM Power hybrid infrastructure implementations, offering assessment, design, orchestration, and managed services. Customers such as the Australian Tax Office upgrade to IBM z17 via this partnership.
- WorkdaycoreCDW upgraded its Enterprise Resource Planning system by implementing Workday's cloud platform, replacing manual legacy finance processes with a scalable cloud ERP foundation and positioning itself to leverage Workday's advancing AI capabilities to further enhance its finance function.
- DeloittecoreDeloitte served as implementation partner for CDW's Workday cloud ERP transformation. The transformation reduced manual data extraction and increased automation across finance operations for the Fortune 500 IT solutions provider.
- Mission Cloud (a CDW company, AWS Premier Tier Services Partner)flagshipMission Cloud is a wholly-owned CDW company and AWS Premier Tier Services Partner. Mission Cloud launched a five-product AI Suite (AIM, Quick 5x5x5, AI Landing Zone, Fixed-Fee Chatbot MVP, Agent-Enabled Chatbot Limited Pilot) to guide organizations from AI strategy to production-ready deployment, addressing the gap where only 29% of organizations see significant ROI from generative AI.
- EnquizitcoreCDW Corporation announced the acquisition of Enquizit (announced June 6, 2023). Enquizit is described as a major distribution acquisition expanding CDW's cloud and managed services capabilities in the US market.
- Horizon3.aiminorCDW participates as a partner in Horizon3.ai's Global Partner Conference: Americas, alongside NCC Group, Optiv, Thrive, and Sentinel Technologies. Horizon3.ai reported 102% YoY ARR growth and 32% of Q4 bookings sourced through the channel.
- Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE)coreCDW hired Hang Tan from HPE (former Chief Operating Officer of Hybrid Cloud, previously Chief Strategy Officer) on April 23, 2026, as Chief Strategy and Transformation Officer. CDW also delivers HPE ProLiant servers to enterprise customers via its distribution channel.
- Apple (Authorized Reseller)minorCDW is an Apple Authorized Reseller (Apple Premium Business Partner) selling configured and customized MacBook Air with M5 chips and other Apple products to enterprise teams.
Scale indicators14 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights6 records
CDW Corporation competitors and assessment
Company assessmentBroad incumbents
- DXC Technology: Global IT services and infrastructure provider serving enterprise and public sector with managed services, cloud, and modernization. Overlaps with CDW's higher-margin services and government transformation offerings.
- Accenture: Global consulting and services giant increasingly competing with CDW's higher-margin services and AI/cloud practice work. Adjacent rather than direct given its services-led model, but overlaps on enterprise transformation deals.
- Ingram Micro: World's largest IT distributor after its 2024 take-private. Operates a broader global distribution platform with deeper logistics capabilities but less verticalized solutions selling than CDW.
- Dell Technologies: Major OEM for hardware that CDW distributes at scale. Competes with CDW when Dell sells direct to large enterprise and public sector buyers, but is also a core channel partner in CDW's catalog.
- Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE): Primary OEM supplier and partner to CDW (HPE ProLiant servers, hybrid cloud). Competes indirectly when HPE delivers direct enterprise infrastructure deals but is also a major distribution partner; Hang Tan joined CDW from HPE in 2026.
Direct peers
- SHI International: Large privately held IT solutions provider offering hardware, software, and services to enterprise, public sector, and education buyers. Closely comparable to CDW in vendor breadth, vertical coverage, and contract-scale procurement.
- Insight Enterprises: Public Fortune 500 value-added IT reseller and solutions integrator with a similar mix of hardware, software, and services across enterprise, government, and education customers. Most direct competitor to CDW in North America VAR/solutions distribution.
- Connection (PC Connection): Public mid-market-focused IT solutions provider serving enterprise, public sector, and SMB with a similar multi-vendor catalog and managed services model. Smaller-scale but directly comparable business model.
- TD SYNNEX: Public global IT distributor and solutions aggregator combining the former Tech Data and SYNNEX. Competes directly with CDW in distribution of hardware and software, with comparable vendor partner ecosystems.
Regional players
- Computacenter: UK-listed enterprise IT infrastructure provider with strong European presence and growing North American footprint. Comparable in enterprise infrastructure and managed services but primarily operates outside CDW's core US market.
Market position
Strengths4 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat6 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
CDW Corporation social profiles
Digital presenceCDW Corporation compliance and trust
Trust signalCompliance4 records
CDW Corporation financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
CDW Corporation leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles7 records
CDW Corporation subsidiaries and ownership
Company hierarchySubsidiaries3 records
CDW Corporation funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds3 records
Investors2 records
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
CDW Corporation M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A11 records
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about CDW Corporation
What does CDW Corporation do?
CDW is a multi-brand value-added IT solutions reseller that distributes hardware (servers, storage, networking, laptops, desktops, peripherals), resells third-party software licenses, and delivers professional/managed services spanning cloud, cybersecurity, data center, and AI to enterprise, government, education, and healthcare customers. The offering combines the cdw.com e-commerce and account platform with verticalized sales coverage and dedicated government (CDW-G) and cloud-services (Mission Cloud) divisions.
Is CDW Corporation a public or private company?
CDW Corporation is a public company. It is classified as public and is currently operating.
When was CDW Corporation founded?
CDW Corporation was founded in 1984. It employs 5,001 to 10,000 people.
Where is CDW Corporation based?
CDW Corporation is headquartered in Vernon Hills, United States, in the North America region.
How does CDW Corporation make money?
Two revenue lines are on record. Hardware resale is the primary driver. The others are software resale and licensing.
Who are CDW Corporation's main competitors?
Broad incumbents on record are DXC Technology, Accenture, Ingram Micro, Dell Technologies and Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE). Direct peers are SHI International, Insight Enterprises, Connection (PC Connection) and TD SYNNEX. Computacenter is listed as a regional player.
Does CDW Corporation have an API?
No public API is recorded for CDW Corporation.