Same story with a few added details or comments in WSJ today.
Head of Compaq Services Unit Resigns
In Third Recent High-Level Departure
By GARY MCWILLIAMS
Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
The head of Compaq Computer Corp.'s $6.4 billion computer-services unit resigned suddenly, the third high-level departure since Compaq's chief executive was ousted three weeks ago.
Senior Vice President John J. Rando, 47 years old, resigned to pursue personal interests, the company said. Mr. Rando, who joined the firm last June as part of its acquisition of Digital Equipment Corp., was said to be traveling and unavailable to comment.
Compaq Seeks Digital's Prized Asset: Its World-Famous Service Business (Jan. 28, 1998)
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Company Profile: Compaq
His resignation follows the departures of the heads of the Houston computer company's world-wide sales and marketing and its Compaq.com online business units. Both immediately joined other firms as chief executives. Former chief executive Eckhard Pfeiffer was dismissed by Compaq's board on April 18.
Mr. Rando agreed to stay at Compaq through July 1 to manage the transition to a new executive, the company said. A successor wasn't immediately named.
The services business boosted its revenue 9% to $1.6 billion in the first quarter. Its gross profit margin was 32%, or more than seven percentage points higher than the corporate average for the period.
"For many people at Compaq, this is a shock," said Mark Romanowsky, a vice president at Compaq dealer Jade Systems Corp., Long Island City, N.Y. "Compaq's strategy when it acquired Digital was to become a global player in services. John Rando spearheaded that strategy."
Mr. Rando joined Digital in 1976 as a software specialist in its services group and rose through the ranks to become senior vice president. As a Digital executive, he was credited with combining a declining minicomputer-repair operation with fast-growing network and systems-integration businesses and outsourcing operations.
He also was responsible for negotiating a deal with Microsoft Corp. in 1995 that resulted in the company's becoming a leading service provider for Microsoft's NT operating software.
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