CompuCom CEO Kevin Shank: ‘I Have Unfinished Enterprise Right here’

Rebuilding CompuCom

When Kevin Shank took the reins final month as the brand new CEO of world IT answer supplier CompuCom, it was in a method a homecoming for him. Shank had spent 9 years at CompuCom, leaving the corporate in early 2014 as government vp, to hitch Pivot Know-how Options as CEO till Pivot was acquired by Computacenter in late 2020 to develop into that firm’s CEO.

Whereas CompuCom has an extended historical past as an IT answer supplier and MSP, its time as an unbiased firm was significantly shorter. CompuCom in 2017 was acquired by ODP, the dad or mum firm of Workplace Depot, in a billion-dollar deal, solely to be offered in December 2021 for simply over $300 million to an affiliate of Variant Fairness Advisors, a Los Angeles-based fairness agency specializing in company divestitures.

Shank, in a latest unique interview with CRN, mentioned that whereas CompuCom was part of ODP it misplaced its enterprise focus. CompuCom beforehand had carved a robust enterprise catering to the Fortune 1000-type enterprise clients, however the siren name of end-user computing was too robust to withstand, particularly as CompuCom turned a part of ODP, which had a robust SMB to midmarket focus.

[Related: CompuCom Rehires Channel Vet Kevin Shank As New CEO]

“Lots of people noticed alternative there,” he mentioned. “Workplace Depot clearly noticed a chance there. This occurred after I left. However I feel that took a variety of the main focus of the corporate away from massive enterprise clients, the place the corporate actually thrived and was effectively revered. And it modified the main focus of the corporate a bit.”

Whereas promoting merchandise stays an essential a part of CompuCom’s enterprise, it is just one a part of the answer supplier’s technique for rising its enterprise enterprise, Shank mentioned.

“I see us placing some emphasis on rising [the product] a part of our enterprise as a result of I feel it results in transformation, it results in skilled providers and advisory providers,” he mentioned. “And in the end, we wish to handle that expertise when it’s in place, to assist deploy it and handle it for our clients. And that’s our area. That’s who CompuCom is.”

Right here is extra about who CompuCom is and what it hopes to develop into going ahead.