Lenovo forms services unit

Lenovo Group announced on Thursday it has launched a global services unit and hired a former Dell Services executive to run it.

Lenovo named Christopher Askew as senior vice president of the newly created Lenovo Services. Askew, who will assume his position immediately, will be based in Singapore.

The move comes as Lenovo seeks to build up its business following its acquisition of IBM's PC business last year. The acquisition transformed Lenovo into the third-largest PC maker in the world.

"Customer satisfaction is a key goal for Lenovo, and this new Lenovo Services unit deepens our commitment," William Amelio, Lenovo's chief executive, said in a statement.

Askew, who joined Dell in 1999, was most recently vice president of Dell Services for Asia-Pacific and Japan. He handled areas such as sales and marketing, professional services, managed services, field service delivery and logistics, and technical support.

Askew also held senior services positions at Compaq Computer and Tandem Computers, working in the U.S., Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

"His track record includes proven results, consistently exceeding financial and operating targets in start-up, turnaround and high-growth environments," Amelio said.