Please direct your media and public relations inquiries to: mediarelations@cdw.com 800-800-4CDW CDW sponsors Illinois High School Students in National Robotics Competition VERNON HILLS, Ill. - February 22, 1999 - CDW Computer Centers, Inc. (NASDAQ: CDWC), a Fortune 1000 company and the country's leading direct solutions provider of brand name computer products, last week solidified its position as an industry leader in Internet operations, capturing a "Top Shelf" award from Computer Retail Week for Most Efficient Operations for an Internet Retailer. In all, the company took home two Top Shelf honors, also winning the overall industry award for Best Catalog. "This award dispels the myth that 'Internet-only' companies are more efficient than companies like CDW with a strong infrastructure and back-end support," said Jim Shanks, CDW's chief information officer. "With this honor, CDW proves it has the best of both worlds-Internet operational excellence and an unwavering commitment to service, giving customers the best possible experience." Shanks added, "CDW, like many of the Internet-only companies, offers customers competitive prices and a strong online presence. But unlike many of these companies, CDW also provides customized solutions, award-winning service and lifetime technical support, which all contribute to our leadership role in building strong customer relationships." The CMP Media publication presented its annual Top Shelf awards on February 18 in Miami at Retail XChange, a forum for computer retail executives. An industry-wide poll on Computer Retail Week's Web site helped identify the best companies in each category. Publication editors then selected the award winners, including CDW. "There's no question that CDW's catalog and Internet operations are the best in the business," said Mark Harrington, Computer Retail Week editor. "These awards are a recognition of CDW's success--from retail peers, vendor partners, industry analysts and our editorial staff." Joe Kremer, CDW's vice president of marketing, who accepted the awards on behalf of CDW, said, "Winning awards like these reinforce CDW's position as the country's leading direct solutions provider. To remain a leader, we ensure every customer contact point-from our Web site to our catalog-is the best in the industry." "As catalogs continue to be a major component of our overall marketing mix, winning an award for the Best Catalog in the industry is indeed a great honor," continued Kremer. "We continue to evolve our catalogs and marketing efforts to meet our customers' changing needs and are pleased to have these efforts recognized in such a meaningful way." These two Top Shelf awards are the most recent additions to CDW's rapidly growing "trophy case." In the past six months alone, the company has received more than 10 honors. Most recently, CDW won the World Class Sales Force Award, compiled from independent customer satisfaction research and presented by the HR Chally Group. Last month, CDW claimed the No. 36 spot on FORTUNE magazine's prestigious list of the "100 Best Companies to Work for in America." CDW's other recent awards include winning the Chicago and Northern Illinois Better Business Bureau Torch Award for Marketplace Ethics and three Computer Shopper Best Buy awards; being named No. 60 on InformationWeek's 500 most innovative IT users; and being recognized by FORTUNE magazine as one of "America's 100 Fastest-Growing Companies" and by PC Magazine as one of the "100 Most Influential Companies of 1998." About CDW CDW® (NASDAQ: CDWC), a Fortune 1000 company, is the country's leading direct solutions provider, offering complete, customized computing solutions for business and consumers nationwide. With competitive prices on a selection of thousands of brand name computer products, CDW is the No. 1 authorized direct source of Compaq, Computer Associates, IBM, Microsoft, Toshiba and other top name brands. Founded in 1984 as a one-man, home-based business, CDW today employs more than 1,500 coworkers whose efforts generated net sales of $1.7 billion for the trailing twelve months ended December 31, 1998. CDW's pioneering direct model offers personalized expertise through one-on-one relationships with highly-trained, knowledgeable account managers; telephone and online purchasing; custom configured solutions; next day shipping; and lifetime phone and online technical support, with close to 60 factory-trained and A+ certified technicians on staff. Formally known as Computer Discount Warehouse, the company shortened its name to CDW in conjunction with the October 1998 launch of its first corporate branding campaign, which also included the introduction of a new logo and corporate tagline, Computing Solutions Built for Business™. For more information About CDW's products and services, call 800-797-4239 or visit the award-winning e-commerce Web site at www.cdw.com. For media inquiries or general company information, please call CDW's media relations at 888-CDW-7040.