Blodgett Out as Xerox Services Reshuffles Management

IBM veteran Robert Zapfel will replace Lynn Blodgett as president of Xerox’s services business, as the Connecticut-based BPO giant aims for greater growth in Latin America.

Zapfel has extensive experience in overseeing IBM’s services business in Latin America. He will take over on April 1, but Blodgett who played a pivotal role in Xerox’s expansion in the outsourcing business, will remain with the company through the year’s end as executive vice president.

“Bob Zapfel brings to Xerox extensive experience in global services with an emphasis on transforming complex operations to customer focused, profitable and sustaining businesses,” said Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Ursula Burns. “His deep industry knowledge will help drive Xerox Services’ Five-Plank Strategy to increase customer value and improve our competitiveness and margins.”

Blodgett is the second top-ranking executive to be replaced in Xerox recently after Rick Dastin, who worked as president of Xerox’s office and solutions business group, was recently named chief development engineer for the company’s services unit.

Zapfel, who began his career in 1977 as a sales representative, is a 35-year veteran of IBM who helped guide the transformation of the company’s services business to a profitable model.

At IBM, Zapfel held a host of senior leadership positions in services, including head of the IBM’s Global Technology Services business for the Americas, head of its 90,000 person strong Global Delivery organization, and head of Strategy.

He also ran the Travel and Transportation and Financial Services verticals, as well as the services operations in Latin America. In addition, Zapfel ran IBM’s global financing unit.

Based in Norwalk, Conn., Xerox Services, which recently unveiled a new business strategy, saw its services business grow 3%  last year. The new company strategy is focused on cutting costs and expanding overseas.

Blodgett became president of Xerox Services in 2010 after the outsourcer acquired Affiliated Computer Services (ACS), for which he was working as CEO.

“As we welcome Bob, we thank Lynn Blodgett for his dedication to Xerox and his energy around fostering an entrepreneurial spirit with employees,” Burns said.

Today 55% of Xerox’s revenue is generated by its services business, and that is expected to rise to 66% by 2017. The business consists of a broad portfolio of enterprises in BPO, information technology outsourcing (ITO) and document outsourcing (DO). Xerox Services delivers functions that include transaction processing, toll collection and call center support among a host of other operations.