Technology Solutions for the Digital Workplace: CompuCom

“Our vision is to empower people to achieve the highest levels of performance by making technology work for them — anywhere, anytime, on any device.”

From mobility to cloud computing, new forces are shaping the IT and business landscapes. Headquartered in Plano, TX, CompuCom helps in responding to the new IT paradigm to achieve strategic business objectives.

Founded in 1987, CompuCom was originally created as a value-added reseller of hardware and software, but later modified to provide managed IT services to organizations of all sizes. The company traces and adapts itself to the latest technologies, thus taking its clients to the pinnacle of success in business approaches. CompuCom delivers “best-in-breed” IT services and solutions to its clients – harnessing its people, culture, capabilities and portfolio to pursue market opportunities that drive growth. From its infant phase it has developed to sway with the lateral shifts in technology. Along this journey CompuCom has won numerous awards and has been recognized as industry leader.

In Dialogue with Dan Stone, CEO

How did the challenges help CompuCom grow?

A key lesson CompuCom learned along the way is that technology is merely a strategic enabler to get things done. Many IT companies get enamoured with technology for technology’s sake. It is critical to keep the client and the client’s customers and employees at the center of what you do.

On what grounds have you expanded the company over the years?

CompuCom has always been focused on empowering our clients’ employees with the right technology, at the right time, and with the right access to enable them to help grow their businesses. We’ve always kept the end user at the center of everything we do, from how the company is structured, research & development initiatives, partnering strategies and new solution offerings. We have grown from a Texas-based and focused company to one now serving hundreds of clients globally through our 11,500 associates.

What are the greatest attributes of CompuCom?

Our greatest assets or attributes are:

• Smart, committed associates.
• Great roster of committed client relationships, averaging over 13.5 years.
• Strong focus on End-User Computing/Experience and enabling a Digital Workplace.
• Innovative technology solutions, such as Persona Modelling, End-User Orchestrator with Intel, Solution Cafés/Tech-Zones, among others.
• Focused expertise in key verticals such as Retail (7 of the top 10), Financial Services/Insurance (6 of the top 10) and Healthcare/Life Sciences.

Can you justify why CompuCom is one the best places to work?

Certainly! Our organization is very flat and our senior management is very visible and accessible, so our associates know they have a direct line of communication open to them. We foster and facilitate that via programs such as local Town Hall meetings, all-manager CEO WebEx sessions (with each followed up with a survey for feedback/input), skip-level and 360-degree discussions, and more.

In a technology company, the speed of change is rapid, and keeping all associates updated in real time so that they can work cohesively can be a challenge. In 2017, CompuCom made the switch to Google G Suite to enhance collaboration and information sharing. It has been embraced and leveraged by our associates to maximize effectiveness in our matrixed organization. Furthermore, we strongly encourage our managers to partner with associates to create career development plan and opportunities. As a company, we promoted more than 800 associates last year. We are committed to promote from within and reward our associates for increasing their value to the company. We have biannual pay cycles to ensure a thoughtful, planned and more frequent approach to reward associates with pay increases.

How do you bring the best out of an employee, do you give them enough autonomy in work-related decisions?

We have an extensive network of associates across North America, including over 6,000 Field Technicians who work cooperatively with co-workers they have never met in some cases. We select candidates who seek responsibility and autonomy so that they have an opportunity to thrive in a less-structured environment. They are entrusted with the company’s reputation and consistently rise to the occasion by delivering outstanding customer service. This is also true of our support functions, many of whom are virtual and carries over into our corporate offices.

Update

CompuCom will ring in 2018 in a brand new state-of-the-art IoT facility in the South Charlotte city of Indian Land, SC. The facility will emphasize CompuCom’s culture of collaboration, fun, and transparency.

Office Depot announced intention to acquire CompuCom in the fourth quarter of 2017. Under Office Depot ownership, CompuCom expects to have more investment resources for growth and innovation.

Greet the Leader

Dan Stone, CEO: Dan Stone is responsible for providing strong global leadership and operational excellence to advance CompuCom’s mission and strategy. Prior to his appointment as CEO in November 2016, Stone served for two years as EVP and president, End-User Enablement (EUE), a core strength in CompuCom’s market-leading portfolio that helps IT executives manage the convergence of social interaction, mobility, Big Data and cloud – empowering end users as they interact with each other and their information. Before joining CompuCom, Dan served as President and General Manager of Lenovo Latin America, a $3B business division, where he led 7,000 employees across 15 countries and two continents, and operated six vertically integrated manufacturing sites. Previously, Dan was the Chief Strategy Officer at Lenovo as well as held roles at McKinsey & Company and served as a Team Commander in the Israeli Defence Forces. Dan holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and a Bachelor of Arts in Economics and Business Administration from Hebrew University.