Logicalis Appoints Mark Rogers As New Global CEO

After a year without an official CEO at the helm, Logicalis Group, No. 26 on the CRN SP500 list, has announced that Mark Rogers will be assuming the role at the end of the month.

Rogers replaces Ian Cook, who stepped down last March after seven years in the CEO role. Cook has remained with Logicalis as executive chairman.

Rogers isn't a stranger to the solution provider. He first joined the company in 2003, and climbed the ranks to COO in March 2007. Five years later, Rogers became president, in addition to COO. Since assuming those roles, Rogers has been intimately involved with the day-to-day operations of the solution provider.

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In an interview with CRN, Vince DeLuca, CEO for Logicalis U.S., the regional U.S. part of Logicalis Group, praised Rogers' "track record of growth" with the company, both through acquisition and organically. He said Rogers brings a strong track record history of growth, execution and operations to the role, along with a "financial lens and a lens toward the future."

"It's a really good mix for what we need to take the company to the next level," DeLuca said.

In particular, DeLuca said Rogers has been crucial in transforming Logicalis from a historically federated organization to a globally unified company that leverages its capabilities across the world. That change in focus has helped drive better customer relationships, he said, as many Logicalis customers have a multinational presence.

Beyond building a global focus, DeLuca said Rogers' vision for the solution provider revolves around continuing the company's turn toward services and solutions.

"We’re seeing a real move to a services and solutions go-to-market. That's at the top of the vision in terms of how we interact with customers, the kinds of skills we need and investment we need in the company," DeLuca said.

DeLuca said he believes Rogers has the ability to see the growing market focus on social, mobile, analytics and cloud technologies, and choose the right investments and partnerships to allow Logicalis to capitalize on those technologies. "I think [Rogers] has the right view of how to move the company forward," DeLuca said.

DeLuca said Rogers has already been executing on some of these visions as president and COO, but he said the appointment as CEO will give Rogers validation on his vision for the solution provider.

As for the U.S. division, DeLuca said that he has a "strong" business relationship with Rogers. He said he is looking forward to working together to leverage the company's international capabilities and position to grow the U.S. business.

"The thing that I'm looking forward to is us furthering our ability to look at the company as a whole and extending our capabilities," DeLuca said. "It's one of our differentiators."

In general, DeLuca said that Rogers is an "all-around good guy," who resonates with customers and employees. He said Rogers has a strong history with Logicalis, but is also open to fresh input on how the company can change. Those qualities, combined with an "eye to the future," as well as financial and operating expertise, is going to be very beneficial, he said.

"I think all of those lead to a good recipe for success going forward," DeLuca said.

PUBLISHED FEB. 19, 2015