Super-Size Your Growth By Becoming An IT SuperVAR

This IT management solutions provider is achieving a 70% growth rate in 2006 by servicing Fortune 1000 companies.

Focus and consistency — words that were emphasized more than a few times in my recent discussion with Kyle Drumwright of Trace|3, an IT solutions provider located in Irvine, CA. Focus and consistency are words that usually conjure up thoughts of conservative business growth — maybe 5% to 10% annual increases. Trace|3 is not achieving that kind of growth. As a matter of fact, Trace|3 posted an impressive 50% sales growth rate in 2005 and is on track to hit the 70% mark in 2006 — that's $24 million in sales for 2005 and a projected $41 million in 2006. Sticking to its conservative mantra of focus and consistency are important factors for making Trace|3 a stable business. However, focus and consistency are only a part of Trace|3's success.

Drumwright attributes much of Trace|3's growth to the company's ability to use its storage expertise with Network Appliance (NetApp) products to get a foot in the door with customers. It then upsells those accounts by offering complementary technology solutions such as WAN optimization hardware by Riverbed technologies. "In our opinion, the easiest sale you can get is to upsell to an existing customer," explains Drumwright. Indeed, upselling is important, but it takes more than add-on sales to grow at a rate of 70%.