Up To The Challenge: The 2010 CRN Fast Growth 100 Award Winners

Eyes On The Prize

Let's face it, the 2007-2009 time period was arguably the toughest business climate in many years. But many IT solution providers managed to not only survive, but thrive through what many are now calling "The Great Recession." The evidence: Our recent CRN Fast Growth 100 list of solution providers and IT consultants who weathered the storm with an average growth rate of 110 percent.

This week, in a ceremony in Boston, CRN recognized the best of the best with our 2010 CRN Fast Growth Awards. The awards went to solution providers within specific revenue categories and technology areas who recorded the fastest growth. The envelopes please...

Passion For Growth

"This event celebrates an amazing group of solution providers who grew their businesses at phenomenal rates using innovative sales methods and aggressive service strategies," said Everything Channel CEO Robert Faletra, kicking off the 2010 CRN Fast Growth Awards ceremony. "This year's Fast Growth 100 come in all shapes and sizes, but what they share is a passion for growing their businesses at warp speed."

Optimistic Outlook

"Tonight we are honoring the best and the brightest of the channel, companies that figured out a way to beat this recession and invest in technologies and practices that have enabled them to grow ... and grow quite significantly," said Kelley Damore, vice president and editorial director of Everything Channel, in presenting the awards.

"The average two-year revenue growth for the Fast Growth 100 was 110 percent with the average revenue at $120.8 million," Damore said. "Collectively, the Fast Growth 100 brought in $12 billion in sales in 2009 compared to $7 billion in 2007.

"And there is still more good news: 93 percent of the Fast Growth 100 expect the next 12 months to be better than the last 12 months and will use the economy to their advantage to help their customers meet these challenging times."

Fastest Growing Company With Revenue Under $50 Million

Greensboro, N.C.-based Varrow, #2 on this year's Fast Growth 100 list, had two-year growth of 876 percent and was the fastest growing solution provider with revenue under $50 million. Marketing director Jessica Randels (right) accepted the award from CRN senior editor Jennifer Bosavage.

"This particular solution provider, with its expertise in storage, virtualization and disaster recovery, helped Chesapeake Regional Medical Center plan and implement a new hospital information system that required a significant investment in additional infrastructure," Bosavage said, introducing the award. "The ultimate design of the virtualized data center reduced the physical rack space required. It also significantly lowered the costs to power and cool the infrastructure. That's just one example of how this solution provider supports its customers day in and day out."

Fastest Growing Company With Revenue Between $50 Million And $100 Million

San Diego-based Bedrock Technologies, #6 on this year's Fast Growth 100 list, had two-year growth of 371 percent and was the fastest growing solution provider with revenue between $50 million and $100 million. CEO Dean Cappellazzo accepted the award from Damore.

"Customers lacking in-house IT expertise know they can rely on this VAR to be a trusted partner," Damore said, in announcing the award. "Certified experts, who have years of real world implementation experience, provide immediate value to customers that need help with storage, servers, networking and virtualization."

Fastest Growing Company With Revenue Between $100 Million And $250 Million

Vienna, Va.-based MicroTech, #1 on this year's Fast Growth 100 list, had two-year growth of 1,400 percent and was the fastest growing solution provider with revenue between $100 million and $250 million. COO Steve Truitt Dean accepted the award from Bosavage.

"Government contracting is hot these days and this company is at the top of that market segment," Bosavage said of MicroTech. "Despite a declining economy, this business services provider has seen increased demand for its solutions.

"In the past year, the company achieved several quality benchmarks and acknowledgements. It continues to focus on staff development through training, team building and other management development activities. In addition, it invests in infrastructure, process and corporate capabilities. Through that commitment to quality, this company has reached an elite quality management systems level that has only been attained by 24 other businesses in the United States."

Fastest Growing Company With Revenue Greater Than $250 Million

San Antonio-based Genesis Networks Enterprises, #3 on this year's Fast Growth 100 list, had two-year growth of 663 percent and was the fastest growing solution provider with revenue greater than $250 million. COO Chris Burton accepted the award from Damore.

"The winner for this category has experienced significant growth providing network, IT and supply chain solutions to the communications industry," Damore said in making the award to the managed services specialist. "It operates in four countries and serves more than 120 customers worldwide."

Fastest Growing Unified Communications Specialist

Hauppauge, N.Y.-based BlueWater Communications Group, #17 on this year's Fast Growth 100 list, had two-year growth of 138 percent and was the fastest growing unified communication specialist. Executive vice president of Sales Lou McElwain accepted the award from Bosavage.

"Since its founding, our next winner has looked to fill a niche often overlooked in the market place: the development of unified communications solutions that are based upon objective business metrics such as return on investment, lower total cost of ownership and increased productivity," Bosavage said, introducing the award. "It is fluent in all aspects of robust communications solutions, which has helped propel its two-year 137.5 percent growth rate. Recently, the solution provider implemented a solution for Pratt Institute. The campus had disparate networks: voice, data, and video at both the Brooklyn and Manhattan campuses. Today, everything is running securely on the same framework," she said.

Fastest Growing Data Center Specialist

Auburn Hills, Mich.-based NetArx, #19 on this year's Fast Growth 100 list, had two-year growth of 125 percent and was the fastest growing data center specialist. Vice president of engineering services Alan Wise accepted the award from CRN Editor, News, Steve Burke.

"Customers chose this $38 million solution provider for its ability to reduce costs and create efficiencies," Burke said in making the award to NetArx. "It is certified as a Cisco Data Center Unified Computing Authorized Technology Provider, an EMC Authorized Services Network member and a VMware Authorized Consulting partner. Its investment in virtualization has helped transform and accelerate customers' business by taking their virtual computing environments to the next level."

Fastest Growing Network Security Specialist

Dallas-based M&S Technologies, #25 on this year's Fast Growth 100 list, had two-year growth of 98 percent and was the fastest growing data center specialist. Partner Sean Stenovitch accepted the award from CRN executive editor online Jennifer Follett.

"This VAR provides security consulting expertise to help organizations of any size assess their current security state and meet information security challenges," Follett said, introducing the award. "Our winner then designs solutions to help clients reach optimal security benchmarks and achieve regulatory compliance. This $18 million company has grown almost 100 percent by delivering solutions to its customers through its partnerships with many industry-leading manufacturers such as Juniper, Checkpoint, EMC and McAfee, among others."

Fastest Growing Cloud Computing Specialist

Reston, Va.-based Clearpath Solutions Group, #8 on this year's Fast Growth 100 list, had two-year growth of 213 percent and was the fastest growing solution provider in cloud computing. President Gary Vaughn (left) accepted the award from Burke.

"Cloud computing is one of the fastest growing of our Fast Growth market segments," Burke said, making the award. "This company ranked number 8 on our list with a robust 213 percent growth rate. This company solves businesses’ data management challenges, helping them store, protect and manage information all in the cloud.

"Its customers run the gamut from the Special Olympics, to the Nature Conservancy to Saint Agnes Hospital. Each guaranteed uptime and a predictable monthly bill," Burke said.

Fastest Growing Managed Services Specialist

Lincoln, Neb.-based Five Nines Technology Group, #13 on this year's Fast Growth 100 list, had two-year growth of 157 percent and was the fastest growing solution provider in managed services. CEO Nick Bock accepted the award from Follett.

"This solution provider employs a unique consulting-led methodology. Whether a customer faces a challenge with an end-user device, developing a plan for outsourcing support or managing day-to-day security, this managed services specialist delivers measured success," Follett said, introducing the award. "Through a trusting and confident relationship, our winner has become an invaluable asset to its customers."

Fastest Growing Specialist In Enterprise Storage Management Software

Boston-based Winslow Technology Group, #24 on this year's Fast Growth 100 list, had two-year growth of 104 percent and was the fastest growing solution provider in enterprise storage management software. President and founder Scott Winslow (right) accepted the award from Burke.

"This solution provider's team is focused on providing storage solutions that are easy to use, feature rich, and affordable," Burke said of Winslow Technology Group. "With the help of its vendor partners, Akori, Brocade, Cisco and Commvault, it has been successful in delivering on those promises. With 104 percent two-year growth rate, our winner's customers seem to be believers in the VAR's credo to providing better IT storage solutions."

Consistent Performance, Despite The Odds

CRN also presented awards to five solution providers that have made the CRN Fast Growth list for the last five consecutive years. "Not a small achievement, given the rockiness of the economy during several of those two-year periods," said Damore, in making the awards.

Left-to-right: Gary Sims Jr., president and CEO, Advanced Technical Solutions; Daniel Bemis, president and CEO, CentraComm Communications; Brian Sims, vice president, Advanced Technical Solutions; Sergey Yezhkov, vice president, EPAM Systems; Kelley Damore, vice president and editorial director of Everything Channel; Daniel Serpico, president, FusionStorm; and Tim McCabe, vice president, business operations, Sterling Computers Corp.

Class Act

The members of the CRN Fast Growth Class of 2010 celebrate their success.