HP uses cash to cover up more bad execution
Posted on July 26, 2007
Those of us in the software business joke about HP antics. Like Sun Microsystems before them they have proven to be one of the worst run companies out there vis-a-vis software. In contrast to IBM which at least has Steve Mills to at least generate return on investment, HP has no such person or strategy.
Back in May we gave a talk at the CA Council for Technical Excellence that focused on the missing "S" in SOA. The large techology vendors continue not to really get it from a business perspective. In fact during our reserach it became very clear that HP was the poster child for doing things the wrong way and even their OpenView product was going into the tank. (CA was happy to hear this as is IBM I’m sure.)
The truth is that for HP it doesn’t matter. Once they manage to destroy one set of products and lose the revenue they will simply spend another $1B+ to buy in the revenue they lost. So we were not surprised by the Opsware purchase although it happened sooner than we expected. Of course Marc Andreessen dutifully gushed at how this makes HP the "clear and overwhelming market leader" in the space. We’ll forgive him under the circumstances. After he watches HP "execute" the acquisition it may temper his enthusiasm.
– Kris Tuttle
Tags: HP, Opsware, Management, SOA
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