Southwest Networks, a managed IT and cybersecurity provider based in Palm Desert, California, ranked No. 4299 on the 2026 Inc. 5000, Inc. magazine’s annual list of the fastest-growing private companies in America. The ranking reflects 49% revenue growth over the three-year period from 2022 to 2025.
The Inc. 5000 is the most widely recognized ranking of independent American businesses. Past honorees include Microsoft, Oracle, Meta, Chobani, and Patagonia, companies that appeared on the list early in their growth and went on to define their categories.
What the ranking measures
Companies on the 2026 Inc. 5000 are ranked by percentage revenue growth from 2022 to 2025. To qualify, a company must be U.S.-based, privately held, for-profit, and independent, not a subsidiary or division of another company. It must have been founded and generating revenue by March 31, 2022, with at least $100,000 in 2022 revenue and at least $2 million in 2025 revenue.
Across the full 2026 list, the median three-year growth rate was 130%, and honoree companies collectively added more than 627,208 jobs to the U.S. economy over the same period.
What drove the growth
For a 30-year-old company, growth at this rate doesn’t happen because of one good year.
It reflects a genuine shift in what businesses across this region actually need from an IT provider. A decade ago, most small and mid-sized organizations wanted someone to keep the network running and the email flowing. That’s not the job anymore. Ransomware moved down-market and started hitting businesses with a dozen employees and no security staff. Cyber insurance carriers began asking questions many companies couldn’t answer, then raised premiums or denied coverage when the answers fell short. The compliance burden kept expanding too: HIPAA for medical and dental practices, FTC Safeguards for CPA and financial firms, PCI for anyone taking card payments, and steadily rising requirements for the public agencies and utilities across the Inland Empire and Coachella Valley.
Security and compliance stopped being an IT line item and became a business risk that shows up in insurance renewals and contract requirements. Between 2022 and 2025, more organizations in this region reached that conclusion and went looking for a partner who could own the risk, rather than a vendor who showed up after something broke. That shift accounts for most of our growth.
Why we did not grow the team to match
Worth being direct about this, because it’s the question we get from prospects: Southwest Networks grew revenue by nearly half over three years without meaningfully growing headcount. We’ve been a 10-to-12 person firm for most of our history, and that’s deliberate.
Thirty years in this business teaches you which vendors are worth calling partners and which platforms actually hold up under pressure. The tooling we standardized on, and the security stack we built around it, lets a small, senior team deliver monitoring and protection that used to require a much larger one. We would rather run lean with people who have seen the failure modes than staff up with technicians reading from a script.
Whether that works isn’t measured by our org chart. It’s measured by whether the phone gets answered and the problem gets solved. Our average response time is 15 minutes, and it has stayed there through the growth. Whether the client is a five-person office or a hundred-person operation, the standard is the same.
Quote from Matt Disher, President
“This ranking belongs to our team and to the clients who trust us with their business. Growth like this is earned one relationship at a time, by showing up for the businesses, agencies, and critical infrastructure operators across the Inland Empire and Coachella Valley that can’t afford downtime or a breach. Whether it’s a five-person office or a hundred-person operation, the standard is the same. Thirty years in, the need for what we do has never been greater, and we’re building for what comes next.”
What comes next
We will continue to invest in our employees and partner relationships ensuring we are always offering our clients the right solutions for their businesses, managed by certified professionals.
Southwest Networks will be recognized alongside other honorees at the 2026 Inc. 5000 Conference & Gala, taking place October 14–16 in Dallas, Texas.
The full 2026 Inc. 5000 list and searchable honoree database is available at inc.com/inc5000. The Southwest Networks honoree profile is at inc.com/profile/southwest-networks.
What is the Inc. 5000?
The Inc. 5000 is an annual ranking published by Inc. magazine of the 5,000 fastest-growing private companies in the United States, ranked by three-year percentage revenue growth. The 2026 list ranks companies by revenue growth from 2022 to 2025.
What rank did Southwest Networks receive on the 2026 Inc. 5000?
Southwest Networks, Inc. of Palm Desert, California ranked No. 4299 on the 2026 Inc. 5000 list, based on 49% revenue growth between 2022 and 2025.
What does Southwest Networks do?
Southwest Networks is a managed IT services provider (MSP) based in Palm Desert, California. The company provides managed IT support, cybersecurity, email and network security, data backup and recovery, cloud and Microsoft 365 services, VoIP phone systems, and regulatory compliance support including HIPAA, FTC Safeguards, and PCI.
What areas does Southwest Networks serve?
Southwest Networks serves businesses and public agencies across 18 cities in the Coachella Valley and Inland Empire, including Palm Desert, Palm Springs, Cathedral City, Indian Wells, La Quinta, Rancho Mirage, Indio, Coachella, Thousand Palms, Riverside, San Bernardino, Rancho Cucamonga, Ontario, Corona, Fontana, Moreno Valley, Temecula, and Redlands.
What types of organizations does Southwest Networks work with?
Southwest Networks works with small and mid-sized organizations across a range of sectors, including medical and dental practices, CPA and financial firms, construction companies, local government agencies, utilities, and critical infrastructure operators.
How long has Southwest Networks been in business?
Southwest Networks was founded in Palm Desert, California in 1996 and has been serving the Coachella Valley and Inland Empire for 30 years.
