Ian Russell quits BCX, Jonas Bogoshi to take reins as CEO

Ian Russell has resigned as CEO of Telkom’s IT services business BCX. Former Gijima CEO Jonas Bogoshi will take his place, Telkom said in a statement on Friday.

Russell’s resignation, which was unexpected, comes just days after Telkom reported that BCX had reported poor financial results for the year to March 2018. Telkom CEO Sipho Maseko blamed the “weak economic environment as the private and public sectors deferred and lowered their ICT spend”.

Russell, who had been in the role for just over a year (he was previously chief administration officer at Telkom), had replaced BCX co-founder Isaac Mophatlane in the CEO role. Mophatlane resigned suddenly in April 2017.

In April 2018, Telkom announced that Bogoshi and former T-Systems vice president Michael Buttner had joined BCX as chief revenue officer and chief operating officer respectively. Bogoshi previously served as channel sales director for Southern Africa at Dell EMC. He has also worked for T-Systems, Gijima, the State IT Agency, Cisco and IBM South Africa.

In a statement on Friday, Maseko said: “Since joining BCX, Jonas has brought his wealth of experience to the organisation. He has worked with Ian as part of the team to migrate the multiple entities into the six entities that make up BCX. We are pleased to have the skills and calibre of Jonas to ensure a smooth transition.”

Maseko praised Russell’s leadership, saying he was effective in driving business efficiencies through “business process re-engineering and restructuring the cost base”.

“I have worked closely with Ian for about four years and he has been instrumental in helping us migrate systems and drive efficiencies across the group.”

Maseko said Bogoshi will continue to implement the approved business and growth plan for BCX. “The business will continue focusing on leading application and infrastructure service capabilities and investing in future growth areas, which include driving solutions and business outcomes for our customers.”

Russell will “support the conclusion of certain projects until the end of August”, he said.

Telkom acquired BCX in a R2.7bn cash deal in 2015. – © 2018 NewsCentral Media