The VAR Guy

Oracle OpenWorld, set to start Sept. 19 in San Francisco, will attract thousands of Oracle partners and customers. But here’s some timely irony: Oracle CEO Larry Ellison may wind up sharing the day-one spotlight with Hewlett-Packard’s next CEO, The VAR Guy believes. Here’s why.

Check out the Oracle OpenWorld agenda and you’ll find Hewlett-Packard Executive VP Ann Livermore confirmed to speak on Sunday, Sept. 19. Multiple media pundits say Livermore is on the shortlist of potential CEO candidates to replace Mark Hurd, who resigned on Aug. 6 following a sexual harassment investigation that raised questions about his expense reports and his judgment.

Livermore, the top enterprise and services executive at HP, has twice been overlooked for the CEO slot — as HP instead turned to outsiders Carly Fiorina and Mark Hurd.

The VAR Guy has a hunch the third time will be the charm for Livermore. Or, to put it another way, it’s time for HP’s board to look in its own garage for HP’s next CEO. Building on that thought, blogs like IT Business Edge say HP Needs Ann Livermore to Steer It Out of the Muck.

Well said. Not that The VAR Guy is playing favorites. Our resident blogger certainly doesn’t have access to HP’s board-level discussions. And Livermore isn’t the flashiest speaker or industry evangelist. But she’s widely respected within the halls of HP. And she could turn quite a few heads in San Francisco on Sept. 19, when she takes the stage at Oracle OpenWorld.

The VAR Guy will be watching from his usual first-row seat that the conference…

Sign up for The VAR Guy’s Newsletter; Webcasts and Resource Center; and via RSS; Facebook; Identi.ca; Twitter and VARtweet.

Read More About This Topic

• Three Words By Which Oracle Wants to Be Measured
• Did Michael Dell Convince HP to Retain Its PC Business?
• High-Tech News The VAR Guy Forgot to Write: Oct. 7
• Oracle Linux and Oracle VM: Updates From Oracle OpenWorld
• Michael Dell: We Are Not (Just) A PC Company