Q&A: Jim Lewandowski, Rackspace

• By Anastasia Tubanos, December 04, 2008

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(WEB HOST INDUSTRY REVIEW) -- Earlier this month, web hosting giant Rackspace (www.rackspace.com) held its second earnings call as a public company Wednesday to discuss its third quarter results.

The same day, Rackspace announced the appointment of Jim Lewandowski as senior vice president of worldwide sales for the company, replacing Glenn Reinus, who is approaching retirement but will be working with Lewandowski during the transition.

A 20-year veteran in the tech industry, Lewandowski formerly spent four years with McAfee as executive vice president of the Americas in sales. He oversaw the North American and Latin American sales organizations building the strategy for the group, driving increased revenue and operating margins and overseeing the acquisition and integration of eight companies.

Prior to this, he served as VP of business and enterprise services, North America, at Yahoo! as well as held various positions at IBM and BMC Software.

In an email interview with the WHIR, Lewandowski discusses why he decided to make the switch into web hosting and some of the challenges he's had to overcome learning the ins and outs of the industry.

WHIR: What will you be responsible for specifically during this period and will your responsibilities change once the transition is complete?

Jim Lewandowski: I am responsible for generating consistent worldwide revenue growth for all Rackspace products. And no, Glenn and I currently share all responsibilities and work together on all business decisions.

WHIR: With your 20-years of experience in the technology sector, what fresh ideas do you believe you're bringing to the table that will help Rackspace with its anticipated growth?

JL: Rackspace has a history of aggressive growth and we are positioned to continue this trend. My role here will serve to build upon the strong foundation already in place. Specifically, I will be involved in two areas. First, Rackspace has recently acquired new product offerings that expand the services we provide our clients. We are able to offer the latest hosting solutions for any client.

We have computing and storage solutions for all customers regardless of the size of their budget. I will be involved in building upon our fanatical support promise so that we help customers choose the proper solution to solve their needs.

Secondly, we are ramping up our partner network. The program will be bigger and have more benefits to partner members.  I look forward to expanding upon our partner programs to introduce greater incentives.

WHIR: Based on the announcement, you're joining Rackspace after four years at McAffee. Given, both are tech firms, but making a switch to web hosting certainly has its differences. What attracted you to this position?

JL: The IT hosting industry is exciting right now. The technology industry is in the process of moving towards a hosted model and Rackspace is the leader in offering solutions for that transition. In addition, the culture and Fanatical Support fostered by Rackspace and Rackers is unique not only to Rackspace, but to the corporate world as a whole. Many companies claim a distinct culture, and promise to put the customer first but Rackspace really walks the talk in both these areas. Finally, this company is made of smart, high performance, results driven people. When you combine all three of those factors, the growth potential is impressive.

WHIR: What are some of the challenges you've faced while familiarizing yourself with this industry, if any?

JL: Every company has a different way of conducting their business - from contracts to human resources. Anytime you start a new job, learning the internal processes can be a challenge, but I am fortunate to work with a strong team willing to show me the ropes. Glenn Reinus has provided great support during my transition. With 20 years experience under my belt, learning the specifics of the technology has not been difficult with one exception, cloud computing. As an industry we're all learning this emerging segment together so having a clear definition of what falls into this category is still coming to fruition.

WHIR: What will be your strategy for helping Rackspace propel its "rapid customer acquisition rate and installed base growth," as well as generating consistent revenue growth across all of the company's businesses?

JL: I am focused on building upon the current distribution model we have, including optimizing our routes to market, getting greater efficiencies on the web-based marketing and sales model and expanding our partner programs.

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