Glen "Buck" Baker, the popular president of ScanSource Communications North America, is headed abroad to become president of ScanSource Europe on an interim basis, the distributor said Tuesday.

Baker will be responsible for the strategic direction and leadership of ScanSource's European business operations, including its POS & Barcoding and Communications units. Specific to Europe, he's taking over for Xavier Cartiaux, who ran ScanSource's international operations but recently left the company. Baker reports to Scott Benbenek, ScanSource president, worldwide operations.

"Buck has been instrumental in leading ScanSource Communications North America, which achieved record sales results for our last fiscal year. Buck brings to his new position in Europe a wealth of experience in successfully leading a business unit and strong skills in building vendor and customer relationships," Benbenek said in a statement.

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Baker will be based in Brussels, Belgium. He joined ScanSource in 1995, later ran merchandising for both its Catalyst Telecom and POS & Barcoding North America units, and was named president of ScanSource Communications in 2008.

Cartiaux had been in charge of international operations since February 2012 and had been at ScanSource since 2002.

ScanSource has no immediate plans to fill Baker's North America role, a spokesperson told CRN. Brian Cuppett, vice president of merchandising, and Mark Morgan, vice president of sales, will continue in their current roles and report up to Benbenek.

The mobility trend remains crucial to ScanSource and how partners need to address that -- from devices to infrastructure -- was the big topic at September's ScanSource partner conference in Greenville, S.C.

"An iPad, our channel makes nothing on, but they're looking at what else can we surround the iPad with," Mike Baur, ScanSource's CEO, told CRN at the conference. "I asked a partner the other day, 'Why do you have all these iPads here in your office if you don't sell them?' He said customers want them, and I'm their trusted adviser so I have to understand this. It's a little scary at first, but there is so much opportunity around it."

PUBLISHED DEC. 18, 2012