PCM CEO: Five Things To Know About Our New President

PCM Lands Ingram Exec For Top Job

PCM tapped long-time Ingram Micro executive Jay Miley (pictured) last week to be president.

Miley will assume the role Dec. 1 at the El Segundo, Calif.-based solution provider. He has served as vice president and general manager of Ingram's advanced technology division since January 2013.

PCM's most recent results were mixed, with sales up 0.1 percent to $339.1 million. Earnings plummeted from 18 cents per share to one cent per share. The company plans to close all its retail operations by Dec. 31.

PCM Founder, Chairman and CEO Frank Khulusi addressed Miley's hire as part of the company's earnings call Thursday, as well as during an interview with CRN.

Miley Has Turned Large Profits Off Low Margins

Miley brings the right set of experience, knowledge and personality for the top job, with expertise in finance, sales and marketing, Khulusi said.

"Jay is well equipped with his recent experience in advanced technology at Ingram," Khulusi said. "This is one plus one equals much more than two."

Khulusi said he was particularly impressed by Miley's ability to spring decent operating margins out of low gross margins while at Ingram Micro.

"Ingram is a very large, well-run and well-respected company in the industry," he said.

PCM hopes to lean on Miley's experience building a culture focused on cost controls and optimization, Khulusi said.

Miley Will Focus on Sales, New Technologies

Miley is expected to spend a lot of time on the sales side so that customers can take advantage of his experience and knowledge set, Khulusi said.

PCM will also look to Miley to help move the solution provider into the new world of IT.

Khulusi said the company will leverage Miley's expertise to grow and make large investments in practices ranging from security and networking to data centers and the cloud. PCM recently constructed a cloud data center in New Albany, Ohio, Khulusi said, and opened offices in Chicago and Austin.

The company is also looking to employ Miley's toolset to bolster its managed services and consulting offerings, Khulusi said.

Miley's Hire Has Nothing to Do With Activist Shareholder

Miley's hiring comes eight months after Firoz Lalji (pictured), chairman of rival solution provider Zones, acquired a 5.02 percent stake in PCM.

In a March filing with the SEC, Lalji called PCM "poorly managed" and said he is "evaluating whether a change in management is appropriate and whether [PCM] should remain an independent public company."

Khulusi said PCM began its search for a president 18 months ago -- well before Lalji bought a stake in the company -- and that the decision to hire Miley was unrelated to Lalji's statements.

"This is not in response to anything other than our need and desire to accomplish what we need to accomplish," Khulusi said.

Khulusi Will Take 30 Percent Pay Cut To Help Offset Miley's Hire

Lalji's March filing also criticized Khulusi as being "compensated at unreasonably higher levels than those of his peers at similarly-sized companies."

Those concerns will likely be addressed by Khulusi's announcement Thursday that he will take a 30 percent -- or $250,000 -- salary cut to partially offset the cost of adding Miley. Khulusi had also been serving as PCM president until Miley's hire.

In order to get Miley, PCM shelled out a base salary of $400,000, a $200,000 signing bonus and eligibility for an annual bonus of up to $200,000.

By working together, Khulusi said he and Miley should be able to help PCM accomplish a whole lot more.

Miley Tapped To Lead Company to Greener Financial Pastures

Khulusi expects Miley to spearhead a broader turnaround of PCM's financial fortunes.

Miley will partly replace Sales President Joe Hayek -- who left PCM in April -- but will have many additional responsibilities since Miley will be overseeing the entire company rather than just the enterprise services division.

The solution provider is aiming to significantly boost shareholder value over the next year through cost containment measures and investments in advanced technology, Khulusi said.

Specifically, Khulusi said PCM is targeting double-digit revenue growth beginning in the second quarter of 2015 and earnings margins of more than 2.5 percent by the end of 2015.