CompuCom Taps Former CEO To Run Company

The VARBusiness 500 company, No. 46 on this year's list, was acquired last month by an affiliate of Platinum Equity, which in turn took the company private as of Oct. 1, 2004.

Dixon, who has been working as an independent consultant for the past few years studying VAR and solution-provider companies, told VARBusiness that he missed the day-to-day challenges of running a national company.

"There are few challenges like running a company of this caliber," he said. "But the opportunity to run this one now is great. Platinum has put CompuCom in a position to grow its services business and take the company to the next level."

Dixon praised the stewardship that outgoing CEO Edward Coleman, VARBusiness' 2004 Lifetime Achievement Award winner, provided to the company. Coleman, who will remain an adviser to the company, stabilized CompuCom in the aftermath of the dot-com economic meltdown. Sales last year dipped slightly, however, to $1.46 billion. Dixon says the company is now in a better position to grow than ever before, although sales for the second quarter (the company has not reported sales for the third quarter) slipped to $341.9 million from $377.7 million for the same period in 2003.

Dixon believes he can grow the company and is particularly encouraged by the increased role services are already playing inside it. After studying several hundred solution-provider companies, he concluded that increased services revenue is the key to long-term fiscal prosperity. He advised many of his smaller clients to try to increase their service revenue to as much as 70 percent of their total revenue. According to the latest available figures, CompuCom's service revenue represents 23.7 percent of the company's total sales. But that's up year-over-year from 19.3 percent.

While Dixon declined to provide exacting details for what he has in mind for CompuCom, he has previously advised VAR clients to focus on three key aspects of their businesses: management structure, service-utilization rates and sales culture and compensation. Dixon has provided guidance to such people as VARBusiness' 2004 makeover VAR, John Freres, president of Meridian IT Solutions of Schaumburg, Ill. Freres runs a successful, $50-million product organization that is increasing its services arm, thanks, in part, to the help that Dixon and other industry experts have provided.

This story courtesy of VAR Business