Xerox Hires Ex-iGate CEO To Lead One Of Its Post-Split Companies

The former CEO of solutions provider iGate will lead the services business that will emerge later this year from the split of Xerox, Xerox said Tuesday.

Ashok Vemuri will become CEO of Xerox Business Services after Xerox Corp. separates into two entities: one focused on document technology and document outsourcing, and the other, which Vemuri will lead, which will focus on business process outsourcing.

Vemuri served as president and CEO of iGate from September 2013 to October 2015, just months after it was acquired by solution provider giant Capgemini.

[Related: Partners: Xerox Split Will Lead to Deeper Channel Focus]

Xerox revealed that it planned to split into two companies in January, two months after activist investor Carl Icahn disclosed the purchase of more than 7 percent of Xerox stock, and trumpeted his intention to discuss possible operational improvements and strategic alternatives for the company.

Xerox's Global Business Services division ranks No. 9 on CRN’s 2016 Solution Provider 500 list.

The split is expected to be completed by the end of this year, Xerox said Tuesday in the statement about Vemuri's appointment. Until then, Vemuri will serve as an executive vice president for Xerox Corp. when he joins the company July 1, Xerox said.

Joshua Justice, founder and CEO of Xerox partner Southern Solutions of La Plata, Md., said he thinks "it is great" to see the new structure of Xerox's two companies begin to come together.

"Ashok Vemuri has had a lot of experience in business process outsourcing and seems like a great leader for the business services company," Justice said in an email to CRN.

Justice also said he's looking forward to working with the new document technology company, which, as a smaller entity, will share his focus on developing Xerox’s ConnectKey technology, managed print services and customized app solutions.

"I look forward to this new, more singular focus for the technology company and the increased attention on channel partners," Justice said.

Vemuri, according to John Caucis, senior analyst at Technology Business Research Inc., will be "bringing a wealth of experience" in the outsourcing sector with him.

Vemuri's intimate knowledge of the Indian offshore market, Caucis said, may serve as an indication that the BPO company will increase its offshore service work. (Xerox declined to comment on Caucis' speculation.)

The impact of this move on the channel may not be clearly seen, Caucis said. However, he added, the increased agility of the two companies after the split should help both respond to channel concerns more quickly, which will help bolster Xerox's partner relationships.

"I think channel partners have been more important to the document side of Xerox than the BPO side," but the BPO side "will likely benefit from the ability to quickly seek out and ally with partners whose vertical domain expertise enhances Xerox's own robust set of workflow and other BPO solutions," he said in an email.

According to TBR, Xerox has about 10,000 services-related employees based in India, which is equivalent to 10 percent to 15 percent of its total global services head count.

Before iGate, Vemuri spent 14 years at consulting and IT services company Infosys, where he served in a number of leadership and business development roles.

Vemuri came to iGate when his predecessor, Phaneesh Murthy, abruptly resigned. Vemuri then led an overhaul of the company, realigning it into vertical-focused units. Those changes saw some of the company's high-level executives leave, including its chief delivery officer, Sean Narayanan.

During Vemuri's tenure, the company saw a 10 percent rise in annual revenue, from $1.15 billion to $1.27 billion, but a 15 percent drop in net income, from $130 million to $110 million.

In the end, Vemuri led the sale of the company to Capgemini, leaving it only three months after the $4 billion deal closed in July 2015.