Everybody’s talking about Mark Hurd’s resignation from his post as CEO of HP. The development comes as the company was in the midst of turning around its enterprise fortunes, and had made a big splash on the mobility front this spring when it announced the acquisition of Palm.
In this period of prolonged economic uncertainty, such vendor developments can have vast ripple effects throughout the enterprise community. Right now, there are more questions than answers about how Hurd’s departure will impact the company. The current management team is working overtime to reassure customers that the HP ship will not stray from its course.
While no CIO wants to be known as the executive who linked his organization’s IT fortunes to a vendor that goes “kaboom,” at the same time corporate turnover at major tech vendors is hardly uncommon. In this case, though, it’s the circumstances of Hurd’s abrupt departure amid alleged ethics violations could raise red flags for customers.
The HP executive drama overshadows other hot developments that CIOs also need to track, including:
- BlackBerry Torch and Curve 3G smart phones both hitting the market from Research In Motion this month
- Android sales figures from oogle that serve as further proof of the success of that smart phone OS
- iPhone jailbreaking and what it means for enterprise IT
- iPad mini rumors
Here’s a deeper look into the hottest news, and why these developments will directly impact CIO decision-making through 2010.
