Following Mark Hurd’s surprise resignation from Hewlett-Packard, pundits are trying to figure out who will become HP’s next CEO. Apparently, internal and external candidates will be considered. The VAR Guy’s best guess: Now could be the time for HP to tap Ann Livermore (pictured) as CEO. Here are four reasons why Livermore comes to mind for the CEO post.
First, some background: In case you’ve been MIA from the high-tech industry for a few days, CEO Hurd resigned Aug. 6 after HP uncovered questionable Hurd expense reports amid a sexual harassment investigation. CFO Cathie Lesjak is interim CEO but has removed herself from consideration for the permanent post.
On the Shortlist?
So, which HP insiders are still in the running? A Reuters article points to these candidates:
- Todd Bradley, executive VP of HP’s personal systems group. Silicon Alley Insider says Bradley should be the leading candidate for CEO.
- Dave Donatelli, executive VP and GM, enterprise servers, storage and networking.
- Vyomesh Joshi, executive VP, imaging and printing group.
- Ann Livermore, executive VP of HP’s enterprise business, featuring servers, storage, services and software.
- Shane Robison, executive VP and chief strategy and chief technology officer.
Livermore for President (and CEO)?
If The VAR Guy was a betting man he’d put his money on Ann Livermore. Here are four reasons why:
- HP is evolving beyond hardware to increasingly focus on software and services. Livermore’s bio and background align well with that market reality.
- HP’s business no longer revolves purely around PCs (Bradley) and printers (Joshi) and pure R&D (Robison).
- When describing Livermore, VentureBeat notes: “The straight-talking Texan isn’t flashy, but she has gotten the job done for years.” Sounds like the type of leadership HP needs following Hurd’s personal meltdown.
- Livermore was twice overlooked for the CEO post; once when Carly Fiorina was hired and a second time when Mark Hurd was recruited from NCR. The VAR Guy thinks the third time will be the charm for Livermore.
Admittedly, The VAR Guy doesn’t have any inside info related to HP’s CEO search. But our resident blogger has quietly respected Livermore’s work for more than a decade…
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Update: New Reuters article describes HP’s potential CEO moves to counter Apple, Cisco and IBM. Interesting read.
-TVG
Update: Generally speaking, Wall Street loved Mark Hurd. But CNBC offers a very interesting contrarian view, noting that HP sharply cut R&D during Hurd’s tenure and the company didn’t generate that much organic growth…
-TVG
Another vote for Livermore as CEO. This one from IT Business Edge blog. Here are details.
-TVG
My contact with Ann Livermore was 9 years ago when she was head of the HP’s budding consulting group. I had a team of 30 IBM consultants with several team leaders and she was immediately on top of it and lead me to the right HP people. Unfortunately, another aggressively expanding global computer maker acted faster and HP lost out. If Livermore had stay involved, they would have made the deal and gained $50MM bottomline profit grabbing my team. Former executive recruiter/merchant banker, Houston, TX.
HP CEO Ann Livermore Contender: I agree with the VAR GUY after reading the WSJ article today and could not believe she was not even mentioned in the successorship article on page B4. My immediate thought was that Ann Livermore is the hands down primary candidate for that position regardless of age, gender or internal political power at HP. X-recruiter/banker, Houston
Dear Editor,
This gives, IBM, Oracle (Sun Microsystems Hardware) and others badly needed breathing space. I wrote Mr. Hurd once and he quickly responded with an e-mail for the right person to contact at HP for question I asked him about. I wrote Mr. Sam Palmsiano the CEO of IBM once and I got a generic e-mail with no one one to follow up with. HP had the right strategy by continuing with the EDS partnership with Microsoft on Microsoft Exchange once HP acquired EDS, and delivering value to CIOs by focuing on data center innovations. IBM in my opinion has lost it’s way, it had a lead in groupware with Lotus Notes when Lou Gerstner was there that they have lost to Microsoft Exchange/Share Point Server though they still have a chance to get it back and Oracle with it’s Sun Hardware has a chance gain ground by loading it’s application like peoplesoft, and oracle database software to Sun’s hardware. HP must act fast and get the right person or they will lose ground. Mr. Hurd was a great executive, but ethics are important. Once the dust settles and this blows over Mr. Hurd will be back but chastened by this mistep.
Sincerely,
Mr. Winston Shines
Principal Consultant
Maximillian Bryan & Marcell Technologies Internationale LLC
Renaissance Center
P.O. Box 43802
Detroit, MI 48243
E-Mail: mbmwinstonshines@hotmail.com
web: http://www.mbmtinternationale.com
blog: http://mbmconsulting.blogspot.com
Al: Thanks for adding the additional insights on Livermore. The VAR Guy will continue to watch this story closely…
-TVG