Customer-centric Approach Earns CDW Corporation a Prestigious Social Media Award.

Recognized in the "Business-to Business Listening" Category for Exemplary Customer Service

VERNON HILLS, Ill. -- CDW Corporation, a leading provider of technology solutions for business, government and education, announced today it has been honored as a recipient of the 2009 Forrester Groundswell Award in the Business-to-Business Listening category.

CDW earned this award after working closely with its customer communities to take on a new customer-centric approach to many aspects of its sales process. CDW worked with Communispace, the leader in helping major brands generate customer insights through online communities, to identify key customer wants, needs and ideas for improvement. Since 2004, CDW has had the voice of its corporate customers at its fingertips through three private communities of approximately 300 members each, built and managed by Communispace.

Suggestions from these communities served as the catalyst for creating new programming to improve the initial customer call experience and helped further improve prospect outreach practices. As a result, CDW has been able to create a more personalized approach to sales, driving average customer value up 17 percent since last year.

"At CDW everything we do revolves around the customer. As such, we've worked tirelessly over the years to find new ways of interacting with our customers in order to provide them with the best products and services," said Mark Gambill, CDW vice president and chief marketing officer. "This award recognizes those efforts and illustrates how we can learn from the people and businesses that matter most in order to serve them best."

"We have had the privilege of working with CDW for the past five years, and we are constantly impressed both with how curious they are about their customers - and how committed they are to taking action on what they hear," said Diane Hessan, CEO of Communispace. "This year, despite a tough economy, CDW's online community has helped the company make significant improvements to the sales experience, making it even more personalized and customer-centric. We are thrilled that their work has been recognized by Forrester."

This year, there were more than 140 entries to the Forrester Groundswell Awards. Winners were chosen in Business-to-Business (B2B) and Business-to-Consumer (B2C) divisions across a number of categories - Listening, Talking, Energizing, Supporting, and Embracing - that represent the strategic goals that Forrester Research advises organizations to consider when using social technologies to interact with their customers. Additional winners were selected in a special Employee and Non-Profit division to recognize outstanding social applications in management and social impact.

More information about the Forrester Groundswell Awards is available at: www.forrester.com/groundswell.

About CDW

CDW is a leading provider of technology solutions for business, government and education. Ranked No. 34 on Forbes' list of America's Largest Private Companies, CDW features dedicated account managers who help customers choose the right technology products and services to meet their needs. The company's technology specialists offer expertise in designing customized solutions, while its advanced technology engineers can assist customers with the implementation and long-term management of those solutions. Areas of focus include notebooks, desktops, printers, servers and storage, unified communications, security, wireless, power and cooling, networking, software licensing and mobility solutions.

CDW was founded in 1984 and as of September, 2009 employed approximately 6,250 coworkers. In 2008, the company generated sales of $8.1 billion. For more information, visit CDW.com.

About Communispace

Communispace Corporation is the leader in helping major brands generate game-changing customer insights via online communities. Founded in 1999, the company has created more than 350 customer communities for industry leaders such as Kraft, Hewlett-Packard, Charles Schwab, Hallmark, Unilever, GlaxoSmithKline and Hilton Hotels. Headquartered in Watertown, Massachusetts, the company has offices in New York, San Francisco, London, Chicago, Austin, Atlanta, as well as Sydney, Australia and San Remo, Italy. For more information, please visit: www.communispace.com.