By Steven Burke and Craig Zarley CRN
9:44 PM EST Mon. Feb. 28, 2005
Lenovo Group Limited, which is in the process of buying IBM's PC business, has tapped an IBM veteran to be its worldwide channel chief, according to sources close to IBM.
Stephen Ward, who is slated to serve as CEO of Lenovo, is expected to name Mark Enzweiler, IBM's general manager, chemical and petroleum industry, to the top channel post.
Enzweiler could not be reached for comment late Monday.
The announcement could come as early as Wednesday at IBM's PartnerWorld 2005 in Las Vegas, sources said.
Several partners said they didn't know Enzweiler, but are confident they will see no disruption in their PC business following the sale of IBM's $12 billion PC business to Lenovo.
Bob Venero, CEO of Future Tech, a Holbrook, N.Y., IBM Business Partner, said he believes there will be better engagement with the channel because of the team being put in place by both IBM and Lenovo.
Initially customers had an "emotional reaction" to the sale but their concerns have been allayed with client meetings, said Venero.
"You have created a more streamlined, faster, smaller organization that can react to industry turns better than IBM can itself," he said. "IBM is an aircraft carrier and when it needs to make a turn, each degree takes a little bit of time. With Lenovo we have a speedboat."
Paul Bay, senior vice president, vendor management at Ingram Micro, Santa Ana, Calif., added, "IBM is doing a good job making sure they communicate they communicate with the channel. We feel confident and comfortable with the Lenovo go to market strategy. Everything we have seen thus far is positive," he said.
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