With 6,000 sellers and more than 125 plans, CDW’s compensation team faced a familiar challenge: scaling faster than their systems could keep up. Legacy tools were limiting flexibility, plan updates took too long, and integrations from recent acquisitions piled on new layers of complexity. What once helped motivate performance was now holding it back.
To regain control, CDW needed a system as dynamic as the business itself, one that could keep pace with growth, connect new data sources, and empower sellers through transparency.
Key Results at a Glance
6,000 payees
125 plans
managed in one centralized system
8
Weeks
Plan turnaround in roughly 8 weeks, from design to rollout
4–6
weeks
Acquisition data integrated
Legacy Tools Were Slowing Change and Driving Complexity
Managing compensation for thousands of sellers was already complex. Managing it on outdated systems made things even harder.
Plan updates took longer than they should have, often requiring technical work to update data or integrate changes. As CDW acquired new businesses, each with its own data and commission structures, the complexity multiplied. The system couldn’t process or automate that data quickly enough to support the pace of growth.
“We were somewhat limited in our ability to get really creative with our old comp system,” said Mike Dunn, Senior Director of Compensation at CDW.
The more CDW grew, the more friction it faced. CDW needed a system that could evolve with the business and support faster, more flexible plan design.
We were somewhat limited in our ability to get really creative with our old comp system
Mike Dunn, Senior Director of Compensation at CDW
Flexibility Became the Deciding Factor
When it came time to re-evaluate platforms, CDW’s technical team made a decisive recommendation: move to Varicent.
“They came back and said Varicent is going to be the way we should go. They just have so much more flexibility in their rules design,” Dunn recalled.
Over time, that flexibility reshaped how CDW manages compensation. With Varicent, the team can now design, test, and launch new compensation plans in about 8 weeks, depending on complexity. Changes that once required lengthy development cycles are now configured directly in the system.
The impact was especially clear during integrations. Over four years, CDW completed more than a dozen acquisitions, each with its own systems and data models. With Varicent, the team was able to connect these new data sources and harmonize plans in 4 to 6 weeks, sometimes faster using interim file uploads.
They came back and said Varicent is going to be the way we should go. They just have so much more flexibility in their rules design
Mike Dunn, Senior Director of Compensation at CDW
Visibility Turned Incentives Into Momentum
Every month, CDW’s compensation team meets with leadership to review executive scorecards comparing modeled expectations to actual results. When outcomes diverge, the team adjusts immediately, strengthening trust and accountability across departments.
“Here’s what we thought would happen, and here’s exactly what happened. If things aren’t turning out the way we said, we understand why and we make those adjustments,” Dunn explained.
The discipline has driven measurable results. Even through years of double-digit revenue and gross profit growth, CDW has maintained a flat or slightly lower compensation cost of gross profit, proving that smarter design can drive performance without inflating cost.
