Arrow Points To Coleman

Coleman replaces Mike Long, who now leads Arrow&s North American Components division and will be assigned to work on other operations, according to the Melville, N.Y.-based distributor.

“[Coleman] was attractive because he was a sitting CEO that operated in a low-margin business. He took them to a services model, and that&s a focus for us. He has the industry relationships,” said Long, who plans to focus more on Arrow&s components distribution business.

Coleman will report to Arrow President and CEO William Mitchell. “It&s a great business in a great industry that I&ve been a part of for 28 years. It&s a different part of the business than I&ve participated in, but I&m excited,” Coleman said last week from the Global Technology Distribution Council Summit in San Francisco.

Plans call for Coleman to work closely with Long during the transition. Long has led Arrow&s computer products business since 1998, and he was named president of Arrow North America in May.

Coleman was CEO of CompuCom, the Dallas-based solution provider, from 1999 to 2004, succeeding Ed Anderson in that role. He was elected chairman of CompuCom in 2001, and last year he guided the sale of the company to Platinum Equity for about $254 million.

CompuCom was a $2.7 billion solution provider with 5,500 employees when Coleman took over in 1999. After the Y2K and dot-com bubbles burst, it emerged as a $1.45 billion company with 3,400 employees in 2003. The company&s services revenues increased from $271.5 million in 2000 to $296 million in 2003. CompuCom executives last week told CRN that its annual services run rate is now more than $500 million, after the acquisition of General Electric&s IT Solutions business. CompuCom&s annual revenue last year was $1.7 billion.

Coleman said his services experience at CompuCom should serve him well at Arrow as the distributor seeks to build out its services model.

“Part of what [attracted me to distribution] is it brings value, particularly to SMB. Things are always changing, but we can increase the value to customers and to manufacturers. Arrow is very services-oriented, which is near and dear to my heart,” he said.

Coleman declined to comment on any initial goals or programs. “I don&t want to get into that. I&m just getting up to speed, figuring out how to blend in and provide growth in the channel,” he said.