Australian solutions provider Praxa has called in a new chief from Deloitte Consulting Australia and undertaken a restructuring to get back to its core competencies. The new CEO, Colin Holgate is expected to drive the company towards a more focused national organisation that leverages its strengths in IT services and solutions.

One of Holgate's first tasks in his new job was to announce Praxa's restructure into three divisions: Praxa Technology under general manager Andrew Munro; Praxa Business Solutions under Tim Foreman; and Praxa Digital Media Group under Brian Walshe. All the general managers have been with Praxa for some years.

Holgate also appointed Steve Catanzarita CFO and Steven Sackett senior commercial business officer.

"Our goal at Praxa is to become Australia's number one IT service provider," Holgate said. "We plan to do this by focusing on what we do best, which is delivering quality, focused services, and solutions that help our customers achieve their business objectives."

The NCR links continue at Aristocrat

A tenuous but real linking of NCR old boys at poker machine manufacturer Aristocrat Leisure has been extended with the appointment of Lionel Jayaraj as chief financial officer. He joined the company directly from NCR where he was most recently vice president and regional controller for Europe, Middle East, Africa and Asia/Pacific. His 14 year term with NCR included a senior appointment in Australia.

At Aristocrat he will work for CEO and managing director Des Randall, who held a number of senior jobs with NCR in Australia and the Asia/Pacific region before joining Aristocrat.

The NCR link is rounded out by the ever-cheerful CIO Bob Marnell, who had a long and illustrious career with AT&T and met Randall when seconded to NCR to work on the troublesome Telstra account.

Scene set for changes at Telstra

The stage has been set for board level changes at Telstra with the announcement this week that three board members will stand aside at the AGM in November, and the release of the names of nominees to fill the upcoming vacancies.

Those retiring are Cecilia Moar, Chris Roberts and Stephen Vizard. Those nominating for board seats are:

Sam Chisholm, former chief executive and managing director of British Sky Broadcasting and News Corporation, as well as former managing director of the Nine Network.

Len Cooper, secretary of the CEPU Communications Division.

John Fletcher, chief executive and managing director of Brambles Industries.

Ange T Kenos, member of the Olympic Academy.

Catherine Livingstone, director of Q-Vis Limited and the Export Finance and Insurance Corporation and former managing director of Cochlear Ltd.

Stephen Mayne, Internet publisher and business journalist.

John Ralph, director and deputy chairman of Telstra since 1996.

Mervyn Vogt, a Telstra employee, and

Garry Waldron, a secondary teacher in WA.

The three tipped as the most likely to succeed in filling the vacancies are Chisholm, Fletcher and Livingstone, all of whom have headed successful companies. Ralph is regarded as a shoo-in to replace himself.

Around the traps

Tony Grist, joint managing director of Amcom Telecommunications, has been appointed executive chairman of the company while Ian Warner, current chairman, has been appointed non-executive deputy chairman. Andy McLean, the other joint managing director, will become sole managing director and CEO;Peter Colby has been appointed COO and a director of ISIS Communications. He was previously CEO of ISIS Broadcast Media and will continue in that role. Other members of the board are Bryan Waters (chairman); Adam Radly, CEO; Terry Gray; Alan Humphris; and Wayne Nowland.

And far away

Eric Benhamou has announced that he will step down as CEO of 3Com on January 1, 2001. His position will be taken by Bruce Claflin, who has been president and COO since August 1998. Benhamou has announced that he will continue as chairman of 3Com's board and as chairman of Palm Inc.

Carly Fiorina, the CEO of Hewlett-Packard who recently concluded a lecture tour of Australia, has been appointed chairwoman of the company's board. She will take over from Richard Hackborn, who had been serving as non-executive chairman since the departure of Lewis Platt last year. Hackborn will retain his seat on the board.

Paul Allen, the other founder of Microsoft, plans to resign from the developer's board at its annual meeting on November 9. Richard Hackborn will also resign and the two board seats will be disbanded, reducing the number of directors from eight to six.

Rumours are flying in the US about Lucent's financial performance which, if as bad as expected, could lead to the departure of chairman Rich McGinn.

Asian e-commerce enabler AsiaCommerce has appointed Alvin Kok president and COO. He was previously corporate vice president and Asia/Pacific managing director with JD Edwards. Kok joined AsiaCommerce with a flurry of other former JD Edwards staff.