Ingram Micro Tries To Keep Channel Relations Steady

With four executives gone in the past four months, Ingram Micro has many channel observers wondering whether something is afoot at the company. Kevin Murai, co-president of the Santa Ana, Calif.-based distributor, shed light on the impact of the executive departures and the rollout of a new channel program in an interview with Distribution Editor Scott Campbell. For the full interview, go to CRN.COM/EXTRA.

CRN: Four executives--Mike Grainger, Pat Collins, Donna Grothjan and Joe Gruca--have left Ingram Micro within the past four months, and they did so without having other positions. Why are they leaving?

MURAI: The important thing is that our company is not just about one or two or three people. The one thing we've worked hard on for the last several years is to develop bench strength and strong leadership at all levels.

CRN: But why did those executives leave?

MURAI: For a small number of the people that left, it was individuals making independent decisions that have to do with their careers. For as many people that have left, even more have been successfully developing careers, such as Brian Wiser, who has a strong background with us, and Paul Bay, who was promoted to run the vendor management business. We have a lot of bright folks to leverage in terms of experience and leadership.

CRN: Some solution providers, vendors and Wall Street analysts have expressed concern that the departures resemble a period a few years ago when executives such as Phil Ellett, Jeff Rodek, Doug Antone, Sanat Dutta, Greg Hawkins and Robert Grambo left Ingram Micro, and the company shifted its focus away from small solution providers. Will the latest departures lead to any customer-facing changes?

MURAI: I can assure you we have exactly the same focus on the same strategy that we've had. We continue to invest in new ventures and go-to-market programs. If anything, we have more of a focus on executing more quickly in the marketplace.

CRN: Can you provide an example of executing more quickly in the marketplace?

MURAI: Our Choice Advantage program is something we have been quite innovative in rolling out. It's a different business model that separates the way we deploy our products and services. We launched that in April with a successful initial phase of more than 700 customers. The overwhelming majority like that they can choose the way they pay for products and pick the services that meet their market needs better. We also announced the acquisition of Nimax, which spells our entry into the high-growth AIDC [automatic identification and data collection] and POS space. That is a new techno-logy platform for many of our customers, along with RFID.

CRN: Would it be fair to characterize the departures as you wanting to put your own team together? If so, do you feel you have the team you want now?

MURAI: At the highest level, I can assure you that I have a lot of confidence in our team. We have a strong group of executives that have been developing for a number of years. We have the exact same focus on our business strategy that we had in the past. We are really focused on successfully executing that focus in the marketplace.

CRN: How will the national rollout of Choice Advantage proceed?

MURAI: We will be rolling it out in four chunks between now and the end of the year. The completion of all phases will be around the end of this year.

CRN: There have been some tweaks to the program since its initial rollout, correct?

MURAI: We've learned a lot from the initial 700 [customers]. We spent a lot of time getting feedback about how they felt about the new model and the things they liked. The core structure remains the same at the highest level. We will continue with a three-tier structure--Independent Choice, Active Choice and Professional Choice--and we've done some fine-tuning to things like fulfillment.