HP New Strategy Officer Focus: Software Over Hardware (HPQ, MSFT)

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By Jon C. Ogg Updated Published
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Hewlett-Packard Co. (NYSE: HPQ) may have decided that it will not jettison its PC business after all, but the company’s strategy appears under new CEO sure appears to be a strategy that is focused more on software and services than in hardware.  That is what the appointment of the company’s new Chief Strategy Officer would indicate.

After the close on Tuesday came word that Bill Veghte has been appointed as the company’s Chief Strategy Officer.  It was noted, “In addition to his new responsibilities, Veghte will continue in his current role as executive vice president of HP Software.”  And later in the release it noted, “Veghte will lead HP’s cloud and webOS open source initiatives.”

EVP of HP Software as Strategy head… a former SAP head booted out… a giant Autonomy acquisition… naming Meg Whitman as CEO with internet experience… and keeping the PC unit because it would cost too much to get rid of.  Does anything here tell you that the future direction of HP is going backwards into more and more hardware?

HP noted that this further signals its “commitment to providing customers with the latest platforms, products and services needed for success in a rapidly changing world.”

As far as Veghte’s past, he joined HP in 2010 and was credited for helping to grow HP’s software business by 18% in the most recent year.  Before joining HP he spent ‘two decades’ at Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT) “in a variety of senior leadership positions” and it was noted that he managed the company’s $15 billion global Windows business and was called “instrumental in the delivery and launch of Windows 7.”

JON C. OGG

Photo of Jon C. Ogg
About the Author Jon C. Ogg →

Jon Ogg has been a financial news analyst since 1997. Mr. Ogg set up one of the first audio squawk box services for traders called TTN, which he sold in 2003. He has previously worked as a licensed broker to some of the top U.S. and E.U. financial institutions, managed capital, and has raised private capital at the seed and venture stage. He has lived in Copenhagen, Denmark, as well as New York and Chicago, and he now lives in Houston, Texas. Jon received a Bachelor of Business Administration in finance at University of Houston in 1992. www.247wallst.com.

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