Action-Sports Retailer Carves Way to Extreme Growth with Smart IT Sourcing from CDW
January 17 2007 - 8:00AM
Business Wire
CDW Corporation (NASDAQ:CDWC), a leading provider of technology
products and services to business, government and education, today
announced that Zumiez, a 236-store retailer of action-sports
clothing, music, and hard goods for skate, snow, surf and active
youth lifestyles, has consolidated its point-of-sale (POS)
component and information technology purchasing with CDW. CDW now
provides a customized bundle that includes all the point-of-sale
and back room components to equip each new Zumiez store, while
CDW�s server technology specialists facilitated a search and
evaluation for Zumiez that led to a more powerful, leading-edge
corporate data center based on IBM Bladecenter HS20 and LS 20
servers with Cisco switches. The blade server implementation
enabled relocation of existing servers to Zumiez�s offsite disaster
recovery center to assure business continuity for the rapidly
growing chain. The company grew dramatically in 2006, from 174
stores in 19 states to 236 stores in 22 states by year�s end. �It
is invaluable to work with CDW because they take so much of the
work off of our shoulders in this kind of evaluation process,
making sure that we only spend time looking at solutions that will
fit our business,� says Kevin Sonney, Technology Specialist at
Zumiez. �To CDW�s credit, their team is resolutely objective about
all of the options, and we make our own choices, confident that CDW
can deliver them for us.� �With more than 600 engineers and product
experts and over 1,000 technology partners, CDW has the breadth and
depth to create tailored solutions based on the best technologies
that the industry has to offer,� said Firooz Ghanbarzadeh, director
of technology services and solutions for CDW. �We applied our
consultative approach, which begins with understanding the
customer�s business and challenges, to develop IT solutions that
help Zumiez manage and even drive their growth.� The Zumiez/CDW
customer relationship started five years ago with desktop computers
and monitors purchased to support Zumiez�s PC-based POS solution.
Although Zumiez�s POS solution originally included components from
more than a dozen independent sources, their purchasing from CDW
expanded over time to include more comprehensive technical services
including sales engineering and configuration support to help the
company equip its corporate data center and disaster recovery
facility. �As soon as we ship one system to open a new store, we
restock immediately from CDW and keep the process moving,� said
Sonney. �Their turnaround for whole-store shipments and replacement
parts has been crucial to maintaining our opening schedule � they
are clockwork reliable.� �In our data center, we needed a
high-performance solution robust enough to support our growth
across all of our applications, and we wanted to make the best use
of our server space while economizing on power and leveraging our
SAN infrastructure,� Sonney points out. �We looked to CDW for
assistance because we knew they could help us look at solutions
from each of their server vendors while remaining hardware neutral
� and that they would reliably deliver whichever option we chose.�
Sonney links the Zumiez association with CDW to the company�s
dramatic expansion. �We save time and money by working with CDW.
Their technical knowledge and ability to respond promptly to our
needs helps us make smart business decisions that support our
growth, accelerate our revenue and create great experiences for our
customers.� To receive a Zumiez case study with additional details,
reporters may send an e-mail to Martin Nott at mnott@okco.com or
Brian Schwartz at briasch@cdw.com. About CDW CDW�, ranked No. 343
on the FORTUNE 500, is a leading provider of technology solutions
for business, government and education. CDW is a principal source
of technology products and services including top name brands such
as Acer, Adobe, Apple, Cisco, HP, IBM, Lenovo, Microsoft,
Panasonic, Samsung, Sony, Symantec, Toshiba and ViewSonic. CDW's
direct model offers customers one-on-one relationships with
knowledgeable account managers and access to more than 600 on-staff
engineers and advanced technology specialists who customize
solutions for customers� complex technology needs. CDW also
provides same-day product shipping and post-sales technical
support. CDW was founded in 1984 and employs approximately 5,250
coworkers. In 2005, the company generated sales of $6.3 billion.
For more information, visit CDW.com.
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