Climb Global Solutions Profile
Climb Global Solutions, Inc. operates as a value added information technology (‘IT’) distribution and solutions company.
The company primarily operates through its ‘Distribution’ segment, which distributes emerging technologies to corporate resellers, value added resellers (VARs), consultants and systems integrators worldwide under the name ‘Climb Channel Solutions’. The company also operates a smaller segment called ‘Solutions’, which is a cloud solutions provider and value-added reseller of software, hardware and services for customers worldwide under the name ‘GreyMatter’. Across both segments, the company offers an extensive line of products from leading software vendors and tools for virtualization/cloud computing, security, networking, storage and infrastructure management, application lifecycle management and other technically sophisticated domains as well as computer hardware.
Segments
Distribution
This segment distributes technology products from software developers, software vendors or original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) to resellers, and system integrators worldwide. The company purchases software, maintenance/service agreements, networking/storage/security equipment and complementary products from the company’s vendors and sells them to the company’s reseller customers. The large majority of products the company sells are ‘drop shipped’ directly to the customers, which reduces physical handling by the company and required investment in inventory. The company’s reseller customers include value-added resellers, or VARs, corporate resellers, government resellers, system integrators, direct marketers, and national IT superstores.
The large majority of the products the company sells are either digital products, such as license authorizations, third party maintenance contracts, or hardware that is dropped shipped to the end customer directly by the vendor. The company utilizes electronic digital interchange (‘EDI’) and other automation to fulfill these orders.
In the company’s Distribution segment, the company is highly dependent on the end-market demand for the products the company sells, and on the company’s partners’ strategic initiatives and business models. The company continually reviews the marketplace to identify new and emerging vendors and products to potentially add to the company’s vendor partners.
Solution
The company provides comprehensive IT solutions directly to end users through the company’s Solutions segment. Products in this segment are acquired directly from OEMS, software developers or distributors and sold to end users. The company provides customer service, billing, sales and marketing support in this segment and provide extended payment terms to facilitate sales.
The company operates a distribution facility in Eatontown, New Jersey.
Acquisitions
In 2022, the company completed the acquisition of Spinnakar Limited (‘Spinnakar’), which expanded the company’s sales presence in the United Kingdom distribution operations and brought key vendor partner relationships to the company’s portfolio.
The company plans to continue to evaluate acquisition opportunities as part of the company’s strategic growth plan going forward.
Products
An essential part of the company’s ongoing operations and strategic growth plan in the company’s Distribution segment is the continued recruitment of software vendors for which the company become authorized distributors of their products. Through the company’s Distribution segment, the company sells a wide variety of technology products from a broad range of software vendors and manufacturers, such as Bluebeam Software, Flexera Software, Intel Software, Microsoft, Micro Focus, Mindjet, SmartBear Software, SolarWinds, Sophos, StorageCraft Technology, TechSmith, Trend Micro, Unitrends, Tintri and Extrahop. Developing a diverse vendor base is a key element of the company’s business strategy.
The company focuses on establishing deep relationships with its vendor and reseller partners by providing specialized product training to the company’s sales force and the use of dedicated sales teams. The company has also established an efficient ordering process with the company’s key partners through the implementation of electronic ordering and other processes adapted to their requirements. As a result, the company’s relationships with the company’s key vendor partners tend to be long-term in nature despite the absence of long-term contracts, with a significant portion of sales derived from annually recurring renewals of software maintenance and subscription agreements related to the company’s partners embedded base of customers utilizing their software products. Additionally, a key part of the company’s strategic growth plan is to provide a high level of support to select emerging technology vendors through the company’s Climb Elevate program to develop future relationships throughout the growth cycle of a vendor partner.
In the company’s Solutions business, an essential part of the company’s strategic growth plan is to pursue opportunities with higher growth prospects and gross margin characteristics through the sale of specialty products, services and cloud offerings. Through acquisitions in the prior years, the company added certain technical and administrative support capabilities to enable the company to resell cloud and software as a service products (‘SaaS’), including Microsoft products in the United Kingdom. The company’s strategic growth plan is to expand its cloud offerings by leveraging these support services to other markets and products.
The company predominantly sells third party software, software subscriptions, and maintenance.
Cloud
The company’s vendor and reseller partners are increasingly incorporating cloud and hybrid cloud products into their portfolios. An essential part of the company’s strategic growth plan is to provide value added services to the company’s vendor partners and customers to enhance their ability to market these products. This includes maintaining infrastructure to facilitate licensing of cloud and SaaS products, providing technical support for cloud products, and providing integration and enablement services. The company has the ability to provide support for these cloud services in the United Kingdom and Europe, and plans to continue to leverage these capabilities to provide cloud support services throughout the company’s worldwide operations.
Marketing and Distribution
The company markets products through creative marketing communications, including the company’s web sites, local and on-line seminars, events, webinars, and social media. The company also uses direct e-mail and printed material to introduce new products and upgrades, to cross-sell products to current customers, and to educate and inform existing and potential customers. The company’s blend of electronic and traditional marketing and selling programs are important marketing vehicles for software vendors and manufacturers. These programs provide a service-oriented means to market and sell and fulfill software products and meet the needs of users.
The company sells products to large, multi-national broad line resellers, sometimes referred to as direct market resellers (DMRs), as well as thousands of VARs, which tend to be smaller and focus on value added services to their customers. As part of the company’s strategic growth plan, the company expects to continue diversifying its customer base by offering compelling products to the VAR community as the company develops its vendor partner lineup. For the year ended December 31, 2022, the company had two customers, both of whom are considered DMRs, that accounted for 21%, and 16%, respectively, of consolidated net sales and as of December 31, 2022, 16% and 18%, respectively, of total net accounts receivable.
Trademarks, Service Marks and Domain Names
The company conducts its business under various trademarks and service marks, including Climb Channel Solutions, Grey Matter, Cloud Know How and International Software Partners.
The company has registered and maintained Internet domain names, including ‘climbglobalsolutions.com’.
Competition
The company competes against Arrow Electronics Inc., TD Synnex Corporation, and Ingram Micro.
History
The company was incorporated in Delaware in 1982. It was formerly known as Wayside Technology Group, Inc. and changed its name to Climb Global Solutions Inc. in 2022.
