Wayside Technology Has Great Q1
Wayside Technology Group, based in Shrewsbury, pleased its stockholders yesterday, reporting that net sales for the first quarter increased 28% over the same period in 2010. Total sales for the quarter reached $51.5 million compared to $40.4 million for the same period in 2010. Almost every analyst listening to the company’s conference call Friday morning congratulated Wayside for its performance.
Wayside calls itself a unified, integrated technology company providing products and solutions to value added resellers (VARs) and developers as well as business, government and educational institutions. The company has three primary subsidiaries: Lifeboat Distribution, an international distributor of software products and services; Programmer’s Paradise, a reseller for software developers; and TechXtend, an IT service provider and VAR.
The company said that sales from its Lifeboat segment showed strong growth: A 36% increase in net sales in the first quarter of 2011 compared to 2010, while the company’s Programmer’s Paradise segment grew a respectable 7% compared to the year ago quarter. Wayside said it continued to focus on expanding its virtual infrastructure-centric business.
In a conference call, company officials pointed out that the hardest part of the company’s business is getting in the door, but that once the company is in the door “we service our customers very well.” The company’s growth “is due to our customer service, plain and simple.” Additionally, he said, it’s not uncommon for software publishers or VARs to come to the company and ask them to take over lines of software from companies that do not focus on customer service. Wayside supports customers with onsite installation and training, according to the website.
