That's the primary reason—but certainly supplemented by all the others I've mentioned and that are described in extensive detail in those two columns—why I'm scratching my head a bit over the HP board's decision. Let me turn that head-scratching into some specific questions:
I realize the guy hasn't even worked his first day yet, and that what I'm asking will require many months of work. But I also know that, over the past eight months, his replacements at SAP—McDermott and Snabe—have been leading and are continuing to lead a sweeping and end-to-end overhaul of how SAP develops products,how it interacts with customers, how it positions its products, how it defines and delivers value to its customers, and how it presents itself to the world.
We also know that if Apotheker leans on his history in shaping the future of HP, then HP will be moving aggressively into the field of applications. And that the twin forces of market demand and HP's expansive engineering prowess will lead HP to optimize the performance of its vast line of hardware products with those likely additions to HP's software roster.
And that means HP will be competing much more aggressively with its two primary rivals: its clear enemy, IBM, and its love-hate object, Oracle. You know—Larry Ellison and former HP CEO Mark Hurd.
So it's fitting that in one of the comments attributed to Apotheker in the HP press release announcing his appointment, Apotheker says this: "As we move forward, HP will continue to be a valued partner with our customers as well as a fierce competitor."
Truer words were never spoken, because the competition with Ellison and Hurd and IBM will bring new meaning to the word "fierce." But even before Apotheker fully commits himself to those wars without end, he will need to ensure himself, his colleagues, his customers and his partners that he's really got HP's house in order.
Because based on his previous tenure as CEO of SAP, Leo Apotheker has much to prove.
RECOMMENDED READING:
Global CIO: An Open Letter To SAP Chairman Hasso Plattner
Global CIO: SAP's Last Chance: It's The Customers, Stupid!
Global CIO: IBM Turns Guns On Cisco With Acquisition Of Blade Network
Global CIO: Oracle's Success Breeds Fear And Loathing At The New York Times
Global CIO: Larry Ellison Is Rewriting The Golden Rule Of IT Strategy
Global CIO: IBM Doubles Down On Red-Hot Optimized Systems
Global CIO: The CEO Of The Year Is SAP's Bill McDermott
Global CIO: IBM Top Product Exec Discusses Strategy, Systems, And Oracle
Global CIO: Larry Ellison And The New Oracle Rock The Tech World
Global CIO: IBM's Blazing New Mainframe Wins Raves From Citigroup
Global CIO: Oracle's New Fusion Apps: An Inside Look
Larry Ellison Rips Red Hat Linux, But Stays Committed
Global CIO: Will Larry Ellison Launch Bidding War With IBM For Netezza?
Global CIO: Oracle Product Chief Offers Glimpse At New Fusion Apps
Global CIO: Oracle Launches 'Cloud In A Box' And New Cloud Business
Global CIO: At Oracle Open World, Oracle Commits To Cloud Computing
Global CIO: Larry Ellison's Top 10 Priorities At Oracle Open World
Global CIO: Larry Ellison Embraces Cloud Computing's 'Idiocy'
Global CIO: Oracle CEO Larry Ellison On The Future Of IT
Bob Evans is senior VP and director of To find out more about Bob Evans, please visit his page. For more Global CIO perspectives, check out Global CIO, or write to Bob at [email protected]. |
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