PCM Names Former Ingram Micro Exec Its New President

PCM has hired a longtime Ingram Micro executive as president as the $1.42 billion solution provider moves to make bigger investments in networking, security and the cloud.

PCM, No. 27. on the CRN SP 500, said Wednesday that Jay Miley, vice president and general manager of Ingram's advanced technology division since January 2013, will take over as president of the El Segundo, Calif.-based solution provider Dec. 1. The position is currently held by PCM Founder, Chairman and CEO Frank Khulusi.

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

[Related: Zones CEO: Company Is Not Pursuing PCM Takeover]

Khulusi said he felt Miley brought the right set of experience, knowledge and personality for the top job, and was impressed by his ability at Ingram Micro to spring decent operating margins out of low gross margins.

In order to lure Miley, who had been part of Ingram Micro's channel team since 1994, PCM offered him a base salary of $400,000, a $200,000 signing bonus and eligibility for an annual bonus of up to $200,000, according to a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

As PCM's president, Miley will be responsible for day-to-day operations, driving strategic initiatives, managing cost structures and growing sales and gross profits.

As head of Ingram's multibillion dollar advanced technology division, Miley has been responsible for leading the distributor's Cisco business, and identifying key business development opportunities within the networking, security, unified communications data capture and point-of-sale categories.

With Miley in the driver's seat, the division has won top honors from Cisco, Juniper and Websense, and introduced new hosted collaboration and wireless assessment services. A search for Miley's replacement at Ingram Micro is under way, according to a company spokeswoman. Until a replacement is named, the spokeswoman said Miley's direct reports will answer to Paul Bay, president of Ingram Micro North America.

The announcement comes eight months after Firoz Lalji, 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 criticized the compensation of Khulusi as "unreasonably higher" than his peers, saying he planned to discuss those concerns directly with PCM's board of directors.

In the filing, Lalji also said he and his wife Najma are "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 told CRN.

NEXT: Miley's Responsibilities At PCM

In April, PCM Sales President Joe Hayek left the company, according to an SEC filing. Khulusi said Miley's role will encompass Hayek's responsibilities but include a whole lot more since Hayek oversaw just the PCM/Sarcom enterprise services division while Miley has purview over the entire company.

Miley appeared on-stage during Ingram's September ONE event in Las Vegas and discussed revenue opportunities in the security sector following high-profile breaches at Target and Home Depot.

"If you don't have a security practice, you need to develop one," Miley told the crowd of 1,800.

Prior to running the advanced technology division, Miley spent six years leading Ingram's operations, sales and product management in Australia and New Zealand.

From 2004 to 2006, Miley was Ingram's U.S. vice president of business management, overseeing all vendor relationships within the systems, high-end storage and components categories.

In a February 2014 CRN channel chiefs profile, Miley urged solution providers to adopt a business model with a mix of products and services, and have the resolve to stay consistent and true to their strategy.

"Focus your investments in areas that truly differentiate you from the competition," Miley said at the time.

PUBLISHED NOV. 5, 2014