Mark Hurd will be the man to execute Hewlett-Packard strategy. The former president and CEO of Dayton, Ohio-based NCR Corp. was named by HP’s board of directors as the new president and CEO as of April 1.
Current president and CEO, Robert Wayman will remain CFO and continue to serve as a member
of HP’s board. Wayman replaced high profile chief executive Carly Fiorina, who was ousted by HP board over differences in the execution of HP’s strategy going forward.
During the company’s February partner conference in Las Vegas, Wayman clearly stated that the new CEO would have to adopt the current company strategy.
Hurd, 48, became president and chief executive officer of 120 –year old NCR approximately two years ago. The 25-year veteran of the company was instrumental for the success of the company’s strategic Teradata division, which he built to be a global leader in enterprise data warehousing, CRM, e-business, analytic applications and data warehousing services.
Patricia Dunn, HP’s non-executive chairman, said in a prepared statement that the HP board unanimously selected Hurd based on his track record leading a complex organization, as well as his strong executive and personal qualities.
“Mark came to our attention because of his strong execution skills, his proven ability to lead top performing teams and his track record in driving shareholder value. He demonstrated these skills by turning around NCR, which, while smaller than HP, is a complex organization with multiple business segments. As we got to know Mark, we were impressed by his emphasis on developing internal talent while reaching outside for new skills, his understanding of the role of culture in a company’s success and his personal integrity. Additionally, his straightforward style has won the respect of employees, customers and investors,” continued Dunn.
Also in a prepared statement, Hurd said HP is one of the world’s great companies, with a proud history of innovation, outstanding talent and enviable positions in many of its product lines and services.
“It’s a great honour to join its leadership team and have the opportunity to build on its success,” he said.
By choosing Hurd, HP’s board passed on internal candidate Vyomesh Joshi, executive vice president of its Imaging and Personal Systems Group, someone that a few Canadian VARs at the recently concluded partner conference believed was an up-coming executive.
Meanwhile at NCR, board member James Ringler has taken over for Hurd on an interim basis.