Inacom Reshuffles The Deck

Inacom Corp. is reshuffling its top ranks and is reportedly eyeing a top Unisys Corp. executive as its new chief executive officer.

Inacom today named Bill Fairfield as chairman of the Omaha, Neb. distributor that's trying to transition into information technology services. He replaces Rick Inatome who left Inacom earlier this week to become chief executive officer of ZapMe! Corp., a company which is building a broadband network for schools.

To replace Fairfield, who is vacating the CEO spot, Inacom is courting successors including Gerald Gagliardi, a corporate executive vice president at Unisys who runs the company's Global Customer Services business unit. A spokesman for Gagliardi says his departure is a "rumor and should be treated as such."

Inacom has been looking for an executive with a heavy services background for several months. That addition could help spearhead Inacom's activities in the services arena, in which the company is pursuing distributing computing as a particular focus.

Inacom officials could not be reached for comment.

Additional reporting by Mark Mehler.