Editor's Letter
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"They ought to put Ross on
assignment in the Middle East. He has a better chance at brokeraging peace there
than anyone I can think of." --Steve Raymund, chairman, CEO, Tech Data
For more than a decade, Ross Cooley was Compaq
Computer Corp. as far as the channel was concerned.
For any channel executive needing anything at the fast-growing PC maker, Cooley
was the one to call. And not just because he was the one Compaq designated to
handle channel issues, but because he got things done.
HOW LONG AT
COMPANY: 1984-1996
BORN:
Dec. 10, 1940
EDUCATION: Associate Degree, Broome Community College; Harvard
Business School Senior Executive Program
ACCOMPLISHMENT
Compaq's channel builder
"They ought to put Ross on assignment in the Middle East," said Tech Data Corp.
Chairman and Chief Executive Steve Raymund. "He has a better chance at brokering
peace there than anyone I can think of. He was given an unusual amount of leeway
in making changes, and that made Compaq extraordinarily agile in his day,"
Raymund said. "He would listen to input and always incorporate the new
information into [Compaq's] programs and direction. His influence was probably
greater than most people in a similar position."
But even though Cooley departed Compaq two years ago, he has yet another
opportunity to make a mark on the industry.
And that is perhaps the most impressive aspect to his career: He may end up
being remembered more for his work at pcOrder.com than for all his achievements
at Compaq.
That is not to diminish his Compaq career. But for all his efforts and successes
at Compaq, relations between the vendor and the channel have been on the fence
recently, not long after Cooley's departure. And after beginning its existence
as a channel nemesis, pcOrder now has embraced the channel and is on its way to
completing an initial public offering, only two years after Cooley joined the
electronic-commerce company as chairman and chief executive.
Cooley's role with pcOrder is just getting started. Now with the major
distributors embracing pcOrder's technology, the mark Cooley and pcOrder may end
up leaving on the industry could be profound. Cooley himself believes by
successfully implementing its strategy, pcOrder can help bring about the desired
results in the ongoing supply chain re-engineering.
First at Compaq, now at pcOrder, Cooley has been one of the driving forces for
success and for the evolution of the reseller channel.
Maybe "Ross the Boss"--as one analyst called him--is the channel's most fervent
supporter within the vendor community. But he also has an uncanny knack for not
just voicing his opinions, but getting something done about them.
"He seemed to wield some influence and was a great listener. He was able to
modify the direction of a ship," said CompuCom Systems Inc. Chief Executive and
President Ed Anderson.
The reason for this rare vendor-channel relationship, executives said, is trust.
Cooley's personality and style quickly convey a feeling of trust and comfort,
even in an initial meeting.
Perhaps Cooley's style and appreciation for the channel can be traced back to
the early days of his career when he was supposed to take over his father's
service station business in Binghamton, a town in central New York state.
Cooley had worked at one of his father's gas stations as a teenager and joined
the Navy after high school, with plans to return to the family business after
seeing the world. But the Navy extended his stay and Cooley needed to attend
college in order to get out on time. After graduating from Broome Community
College, Atlantic Richfield Co. (ARCO), the oil company that served the Cooley
family business, asked Cooley to become a dealer sales rep.
From an oil man working with gas stations, to a PC salesman working with
resellers, the underlying issues are all the same. "The thing I learned at ARCO,
and was reinforced at Compaq, is dealers are motivated by margin opportunity.
You have to find a way by which you enhance their business, or results," Cooley
said.
In 1965, Cooley joined IBM Corp. and in 1978 took charge of the Virginia
territory. He stayed in Virginia until 1981, and the introduction of the PC, and
then moved to Philadelphia and worked in the education arena.
But Cooley was worried he would never get out of that niche and, with some
former colleagues moving to Compaq in early 1984, he decided to make the move as
well.
In his first role, Cooley's goal was to sign up as many ComputerLand dealers as
possible east of the Mississippi. But a month after he started, IBM launched its
first portable PC and suddenly Cooley's $8.06 per share Compaq options were
worth just $3.50 per share.
After a major company meeting, Cooley's assignment was to move 3,500 Deskpros in
the third quarter of 1984 and while he came up 400 short of the goal, Compaq
internally had only really been expecting him to sell 2,500. Cooley was asked to
move to Compaq's Houston headquarters.
He was promoted to vice president of sales in 1987 and then vice president of
sales and service in 1988 before Compaq hit another dry spell in 1991, resulting
in the ouster of company founder Rod Canion. With new President and Chief
Executive Eckhard Pfeiffer, Compaq began to make the necessary moves to return
to strong growth and profitability. And with Cooley now running the North
American PC operations, Compaq took off.
"The part Ross ran became one of the stars for Compaq," said Doug Johns, who ran
Compaq's entire PC business at the time and is currently chairman and chief
executive of Monorail Computer Corp., Atlanta. "He built up a strong reputation
for trust and being loyal to the dealer. When there was an opportunity to do
things that the dealer didn't like, he would be a strong advocate inside the
corporation to keep Compaq much more dealer-friendly."
But by 1996, with his success at Compaq resulting in a healthy bank account,
other longtime Compaq executives moving on and a desire to slow down his pace,
Cooley began to consider retirement. One of his final assignments at Compaq was
to lead the project to re-engineer its distribution strategy, which is how he
first came in contact with pcOrder and Christina Jones, its president and chief
operating officer.
Once Cooley came on board, it seemed many vendors were suddenly interested in
meeting with pcOrder, if not for any other reason than a chance to talk with
Cooley, Jones said.
PcOrder was not only in the door, but with a simplified message and
channel-friendly approach, it was on its way toward new partnerships.
"We were sorry to lose him from Compaq," said Jeffrey McKeever, chairman and
chief executive of MicroAge Inc., one of the few companies to sign a deal with
pcOrder before Cooley joined the company. "But when he went to pcOrder, that
helped a lot. He changed their business plan. Their plan was to be more
intrusive between the channel and our customers. He changed that so we can work
in harmony now."
Maybe Cooley should consider that trip to the Middle East after all.
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