Murray Wright, CDN’s top newsmaker for the year 2005, is moving down south to head Tech Data’s US sales.
“Lots of changes in this industry and I guess I am part of it,” said Wright, who has been running Lenovo Canada since Oct. of 2005.
Before that he was the long-time president of Ingram Micro Canada. Wright said he could pursue the Tech Data opportunity because the non-compete clause in his Ingram contract expired.
“I am excited at the opportunity to lead a large sales force in the U.S. and I’ve always had respect for Tech Data,” he said.
Wright is replacing Tom Ducatelli, whose stay at Tech Data was brief. He left for a senior position at a company called Zones after just 18 months.
He leaves Lenovo Canada in excellent shape, he said. “I love the story and the potential of Lenevo and its capabilities, which will be realized in the market,” Wright said.
He added that Lenovo is going through some organizational changes, and he believes these are good decisions that will help it be well- positioned in the market.
Sue Taylor, Lenovo Canada spokesperson, said Scott Smith, the president of Lenovo Americas, will take over on an interim basis and will be responsible for the Canadian operation.
Lenovo is also trying to tightly align its business units so that executives report to respective business unit leaders at head office in Raliegh, N.C. For example, Lenovo channel czar Peter Sutherland will report to Steve Mungall the VP of channel strategies for Lenovo America, Taylor said.
Wright said that the career change, which will mean him moving to Tech Data’s Clearwater, Fla. headquarters, is not so much about Lenovo, but more about Tech Data.
“Driving a U.S. organization is appealing to me and that opportunity does not come up all the time. When it did I thought it was a good fit,” he said.
Wright disagreed that his hire was an action to help Robert Dutkowsky, Tech Data’s new CEO, put his own stamp on the distributor.
Wright said Dutkowsky is still evaluating the organization any new direction is yet to be determined.
“I hope to add something from my distribution experience and bring a different perspective as an outsider to the company,” Wright said.
He added that he knows he has a huge challenge ahead of him and is planning on meeting with his team at Tech Data to make sure that all the goals are aligned.
