At Storage Networking World, Ann Livermore, executive vice-president of Hewlett-Packard Co.’s Technology Solutions Group, spoke about HP’s recent hiring of Mark Hurd as CEO. Excerpts from the interview follow:
What’s the buzz at HP now that Mark Hurd has taken over as CEO?
The buzz is good. The customer and employee reaction to Mark has been positive. He clearly has a very strong operational background and a very deep knowledge of aspects of the computer industry. So he had a good match with the qualifications.
You were widely considered a top contender for the CEO position. Did the board approach you at any point to discuss the job?
We’re not making any comments on who were candidates and who weren’t, or the speculation associated with it. But I will tell you that I think they made a good choice.
There’s been a lot of speculation about whether it would make sense for HP to split up. What’s your take on that?
The company is focused on making sure we create good shareholder value. (Selling off parts of the company) is one option some analysts like. We believe that we’ve got a really strong portfolio and that there’s value in the portfolio. We just have an opportunity to execute better and more consistently than we have.
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