Rajguru is new Ingram India COO

Shubhendu Parth

NEW DELHI/CHENNAI: It is time for a change of guard at Ingram Micro’s India office. NY Prasad, COO, Indian operations has been shifted to Singapore where he is expected to take charge by the end of June this year. According to sources, SP Rajguru, Ingram’s Delhi-based Vice President for Sales, would be stepping in Prasad"s shoes, taking over as the new COO early next month.

When contacted by CNS, senior officials at Ingram confirmed the news of Prasad’s transfer to Singapore. However, they declined to give any further information about who would be his successor in the country.

Prasad who started his career in Ingram Micro from Singapore in 1997, then called Electronic Resources Ltd., was responsible for running the computer component business for South Asia. In 1999, he moved to India on deputation as the Senior VP of Ingram Micro India Pvt Ltd and later headed the Indian operations as the COO of the company.

His movement to Singapore is being seen as a natural succession from a being a country head to the Director (Business Development) of Ingram Micro Singapore. According to sources, Prasad in his new role will also be responsible for developing new markets like Vietnam.

Refusing to comment on Rajguru’s elevation as the India country head, Prasad dubbed the report as pre-emptive. "A formal release is yet to come about when and who will be taking over as the new COO," he said adding that, "Rajguru will be taking over as the interim operations head." Declining to comment on the issue, Rajguru said that he is yet to get any official information on it so far.

Rajguru, who joined Ingram in the beginning of 1999, has a rich channel experience. Prior to his present job at Ingram, he worked with Unicorp Industries Ltd for close to 10 years. His last position was Director (Marketing) and he was instrumental in making Unicorp as one of the top PC sellers in the country. He is also credited with establishing and increasing the sale of Compaq products in India.

During his tenure with Ingram, he managed to expand the company’s operations to the up-country markets like Jaipur, Chandigarh, Lucknow, Indore, Guwahati, Raipur and Bhubaneshwar. Rajguru started his career with Usha International in 1975. In 1980-81, he joined the Sogani Group in Jaipur and later on moved to Delhi in 1988.

In another development, NS Bindra who was previously with LG Electronics India Ltd as GM (Sales & Marketing) handling the IT business, has joined Ingram Micro India as Group General Manager (Components & Systems Division). He will be based in Delhi and will report to Rajguru.

(With Nisha Kurian in Chennai )