FIRST of all, it is hard for me to believe that Mark Hurd is gone.  I’m a moral guy, I’d like to think, and we may never know the whole story here, but I’m also a business person. As a business person, it would take a serious immoral or unethical lapse for me to can Hurd. The guy was a cost-cutting genius who put a big, sloppy ship back in order and never really even hiccupped during his tenure. I could overlook a lot of things for that kind of fiscal performance. I’m not saying he didn’t do anything wrong–I don’t really know.  

Wall St., rightfully so, loves him. HP, arguably, is in the strongest position it has ever been in–financially, market position-wise, and general positive “vibe”-wise. But, it is what it is. Hurd is gone. So what next? And who?

The first problem is the who.
There is not a large population of people competent to run a $130B icon of a company such as HP. A smart CEO in Austin recently told me that “anyone you’d want to tap for that job at that level already has that job at that level”–meaning, why would they leave?

What they probably need to do is what they did last time. They looked at a much smaller company with a leader with the attributes required for HP at this point in time. Hurd was perfect: ran a multi-headed company that was in chaos, cleaned it up financially, and put it on a path to success. HP was in chaos, losing money, spending foolishly, etc.  

HP needed a boring, limelight-loathing, intellect to right the ship, take the hard line, and get costs in order. Hurd did exactly that. The results speak for themselves.

The next CEO doesn’t need to do that anymore. The next CEO needs to be Steve Jobs-esque. HP has its fiscal ship in order. Now it needs a shot of sex appeal. HP needs to make Hurd’s former job the COO position and bring in someone who can reshape the boring old company into a hot, sexy one. Apple, lest ye forget, was not sexy. It was a cultish geekfest in disarray. Jobs made it sexy.  

A reporter asked me about Joe Tucci as a possible replacement. I think Joe would be great. I also think there is no way he’d do it. He’d be great because he is a CEO that can run a business with a LOT of streams (EMC was essentially a one-trick pony when he came on board, now it’s a conglomerate) and that’s what HP is. He won’t do it because A) he’s close to retirement, B) his ego isn’t big enough to want to do it instead of retiring, and C) he doesn’t need the money. There are probably a few Joe Tucci types that would be great at the job, but won't do it because they are 60 something.

HP needs Hurd types: 50 somethings ready to make the step up. It’s a gamble for sure, but it worked well once, so why not again? I just think this time, the company is in an entirely different place and as such should look for an entirely different type of leader to propel HP to the next level. For the record, I’m against an insider being made CEO. COO, sure, but not CEO.  This is an opportunity for new ideas and new blood.    

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Steve Duplessie is the founder of and Senior Analyst at the Enterprise Strategy Group. Recognised worldwide as the leading independent authority on enterprise storage, Steve has also consistently been ranked as one of the most influential IT analysts. You can track Steve’s blog at http://www.thebiggertruth.com