CDW and Sprint Extend Enterprise-wide Telecommunications Services
Pepsi-Cola Bottling Company and Technical Olympic USA Enhance Their Communication Capabilities with Voice and Data Solutions
VERNON HILLS, Ill. and OVERLAND PARK, Kan. - November 27, 2006 - CDW Corporation (NASDAQ: CDWC), a leading provider of technology products and services to business, government and education, and Sprint (NYSE: S) today announced the growth of their voice and data telecommunication services with the addition of two new customers: Pepsi-Cola Bottling Co. and Technical Olympic USA, Inc. (TOUSA). These customers underscore the continuing commitment of CDW and Sprint to meet customers' business requirements with a full range of industry-best technology and telecommunications solutions.
Working in close consultation with its customers, CDW identifies business requirements, parameters and appropriate service levels, generating a comprehensive, business-focused analysis of telecommunications requirements and outlining carrier options and benefits. Following the analysis, CDW then designs product, services and telecommunications offerings from its 1,000 vendor partners and 20-plus telecommunications partners to ensure customers implement the technology solution that best suits their business needs.
"CDW's flexible, collaborative approach and its in-depth understanding of customer needs, in concert with Sprint's extensive range of innovative wireline and wireless voice and data solutions, deliver a win-win for customers," said Jack Christie, director, business solutions partners - wireless location & embedded solutions, for Sprint. "Together, CDW and Sprint deliver multiple benefits for customers, including better network reliability, simplified maintenance and management, increased productivity and reduced costs."
Pepsi-Cola Bottling Company of Hickory, North Carolina
Pepsi-Cola Bottling Co., a franchise consisting of four distribution centers and a bottling operation, implemented a secure wide area network. CDW technology specialists worked with Pepsi-Cola Bottling Co.'s IT manager, Jim Bare, to understand his many options and their associated benefits. They selected products and solutions that included a Multi-protocol Label Switching (MPLS) IP data network with failover redundancy and T1 lines from Sprint.
"CDW and Sprint staged and executed the entire installation over one weekend," Bare said. "Monday morning was business as usual."
Sprint's high-speed Internet service has produced a significant return on investment for the company. The faster and larger bandwidth creates a more reliable network for employees, allowing them to more efficiently perform a variety of business functions including inventory procedures, reporting, payroll, invoicing and accounts payable, sales and billing. It also improves response times and productivity of the company's salespeople, which contributes to the company's commitment to provide superior customer service.
Technical Olympic USA, Inc.
Based in Hollywood, Florida, TOUSA is a leading homebuilder operating in 10 metropolitan markets across four major geographic regions: Florida, the Mid-Atlantic, Texas, and the West. TOUSA turned to CDW to help it streamline its communications infrastructure. The company had grown through acquisitions, and each acquired company brought in an additional IT manager, creating a complicated pool of preferences for telecommunications providers and network configurations that proved increasingly complex, costly and time-consuming to manage.
TOUSA's chief information officer, Jay Skibinski, requested CDW deliver a high level of reporting on carriers that provide MPLS. CDW's voice and data experts responded with a comprehensive, 100-page report that summarized various telecommunications options. CDW also worked with TOUSA to develop a grading tool that would help the homebuilder evaluate each carrier on several points, including billing, technology, implementation and performance.
Sprint's offer matched up best with TOUSA's needs. With Sprint's MPLS-based IP network, Skibinski was able to improve the performance and monitoring of TOUSA's network and simplify monitoring and maintenance. Having a unified network also simplified the provisioning, billing and overall management of the company's carrier, reducing the total cost of telecommunications by at least 10 percent.
The new network frees TOUSA's IT associates to focus on more meaningful assignments, such as setting up new communities and sales offices more quickly. "Because we're spending less time monitoring and managing various telecommunications networks, I expect this streamlined solution will reduce our operating expenses as much as 30 percent," Skibinski said.
"Having a strong partnership with Sprint enables us to deliver and deploy the right technology in the right way for our telecom customers," said Ken Grimsley, vice president of strategic sales at CDW. "The end result is better technology-based business solutions for our customers that enable them to improve margins, accelerate growth and dedicate resources to their core business."
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.
About Sprint Nextel
Sprint Nextel offers a comprehensive range of wireless and wireline communications services bringing the freedom of mobility to consumers, businesses and government users. Sprint Nextel is widely recognized for developing, engineering and deploying innovative technologies, including two robust wireless networks serving more than 51 million customers at the end of third quarter 2006; industry-leading mobile data services; instant national and international walkie-talkie capabilities; and an award-winning and global Tier 1 Internet backbone. For more information, visit www.sprint.com.
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