EDITORIAL
A few weeks ago, the Unisys Board of Directors elected Joseph W. McGrath, Senior VicePresident, Major Accounts Sales and its first Chief Marketing Officer. McGrath, whobrings an impressive track record, shares some insights regarding his new role in arefocused Unisys.
Unisphere: What are the ChiefMarketing Officer's responsibilities?
McGrath: I'm responsible forensuring that all Unisys marketing activities are integrated and contribute to theadvancement of the single Unisys brand in the global marketplace. That means notonly driving new marketing programs, but also ensuring that the marketing activities ofthe Unisys business units present consistent messages that contribute to a unified view ofUnisys in the marketplace.
I also have responsibility for the Major Accounts Sales program in North America andEurope. That's the strategic program through which Unisys sells to and servicesabout 200 customers who provide the bulk of our revenue in those markets. It's acritical business development initiative to provide a unified interface to thesecustomers.
I also believe that my role is to be a marketing evangelist, to drive a marketingculture throughout Unisys. I view marketing as not just a job for set number ofpeople. It's a state of mind, and, as such, it's the job of everyone in thiscompany.
Unisphere: What will your experience atXerox mean for you at Unisys?
McGrath: One of my key strengths is theability to grow a business. Before joining Unisys, I was vice president and generalmanager of Xerox Production Color Systems - a new high-end laser printer business. Itook the business from 0 to 73 percent market share in its first year. Prior tothat, I was vice president of strategy and marketing for Xerox Production Systems Group,which produces very high-end copiers - the kind you see at large commercial copyingcenters. This business doubled over the last few years and now contributessignificantly to Xerox profit. I drove the strategy for that division, focusing onmodular product architecture, extensive alliances, industry focus and solutions. Prior to my tenure at Xerox, I was a vice president and Service Director at Gartner Group,the IT consulting firm. That gave me an in-depth understanding of the ITmarketplace. The bottom line is I understand the crucial role that marketing playsin business expansion.
Unisphere: What are your firstpriorities?
McGrath: My first priority is tounderstand what Unisys customers want from us, what services and products they considerpriorities, and how they want us to deliver them. That way, I can gain criticalinsight into what our customers expect from sales and marketing and how we can begin toexceed those expectations.
I also want to move quickly to develop programs in areas where our customers have beenundeserved and in which there are significant market opportunities for Unisys. A keyarea for example, is electronic business.
Unisphere: What do you mean by"Web-enabling" Unisys?
McGrath: I mean making Unisys better ableto meet our customers' requirements for solutions that help them leverage the power of theInternet and World Wide Web to expand their own business and enhance the services theyprovide their own customers.
The Web is rapidly evolving into a vast transaction network, and Unisys has provenexpertise in delivering transaction-intensive applications to help customers address theirmost pressing business issues. This is a golden opportunity for us to bring Unisysdomain knowledge to bear on an expanding market opportunity.
From a marketing perspective, I also mean using the Web as a means to reach ourcustomers and communicate to them the significant successes Unisys has already had indelivering Web-based solutions to the market. I have already created an organizationto develop an e-business strategy and unify the Web-focused activities that have alreadybeen going on in Unisys business units