BREAKING NEWS Xerox’s Global Imaging President Leaves

[edited] By Andy Slawetsky – Global Imaging Systems President Dan Cooper has left the company to pursue other interests. Cooper’s LinkedIn page shows the former GIS leader is now “Managing Partner at Jamcoop LLC.” I’ve been unable to find out what Jamcoop is at this time.

The news comes as a bit of a surprise as Cooper just took the role in January as he replaced Tom Salerno who retired.

While my sources say Cooper left last week or possibly the week before, Cooper is still listed as President (at the time this was written) on the GIS website.

I spoke with Dan Cooper and we had a great conversation about his time at Global. Dan told me, “Global and Xerox have been incredible to my career and to me. I have worked for some of the best entrepreneurs in the industry.”

Global has acquired more than 100 dealers and businesses since they began in 1994. In 2007, Xerox acquired them for $1.5 billion. Over the last 10 years, Xerox has transitioned much of their business from direct and alternative channels to GIS.

GIS has been a consistent strength of Xerox over the last several years. They are in 40 states and operate under a decentralized structure, independent of Xerox Corp. Operating companies exist in key markets with other offices working as satellites of the core companies. Essentially, Xerox let Global be Global after they bought them, rather than trying to integrate them into their own operation, a move that has clearly helped Global continue their growth path.

One of the most interesting things about GIS is that you might think they only sell Xerox equipmentas they’re owned by Xerox. However, that’s not the case, as their website lists a variety of brands offered by GIS, including Konica Minolta, Toshiba, Kyocera Mita, Panasonic, Muratec and Hewlett-Packard. I’m sure it opens a lot of doors for them to offer so many brands, but wouldn’t it make more sense for GIS to exclusively sell Xerox hardware?

Who will be next for this vital role? GIS is Xerox’s most important sales channel, period. At least today. GIS is critical to Xerox’s success and whoever fills this position will have their hands full as this industry continues to mature. We may never really know why Dan left and it doesn’t really matter. GIS will surely move forward quickly to fill this open spot.