KU Tech Watch (9/8/2010): Hurd Goes to Oracle...and !?!?!
I admit I am a fan of Mark Hurd. He's the type of Manager I have tried to be--focused on the bottom line and getting the job done. He was brought in to turn HP around after Carly "The Show Girl" Fiornia was fired. He was able to do it in a masterful way. I was frankly shocked at how he was suddenly fired by HP.
I have been reading about his severance package from HP. It has amounted to a reported 40 Million Dollars. He deserves every penny of it, in my view. I also think that HP is trying to move on in a major way as it made a bold move to buy the storage company 3PAR. This bold move was to show that it is in the game in a major way to stay in the game with IBM and Oracle.
Oracle, to me, is also a fascinating story. Larry Ellison is a self-made man who has built Oracle into the powerhouse that it is. I think that his audacious move to buy Sun Microsystems plays into his strategy to be a big time enterprise player. Bring Hurd on is exactly in line with his strategy to build up an enterprise-wide strategy to go both wide and deep.
There are, however, multiple challenges ahead with this strategy. First, HP has already gone after Hurd. I would have done the same simply because HP knows too much and I know how HP and Sun have fought it out in the Enterprise Arena. Sun's technology, though, is still closed and the roadmap is murky. This is as HP continues to make inroads in Enterprise and in services. But, Hurd knows where the bodies are buried. It is no wonder that Ellison wanted to get him to help build up the long-term strategy. But, Ellison was the guy who played hard ball and got Sun despite European Union Objections. There is no way he is going to back down--especially when a friend is involved.
Although the apparent current soap opera may not amount to much, it is actually part of the big picture of the evolution of the tech giants as we know it. I have been hoping that the tech industry helps to lead and sustain the recovery in the US that is apparently not sustainable right now. I had forewarned about this slowdown throughout my daily write-ups based on what I had seen on the street. The rate of transfer of jobs overseas is increasing ever more.
The Tech Giants will continue to grow and grow--whether that increase in wealth will translate into jobs and opportunities for the rest is an open question.
I have been reading about his severance package from HP. It has amounted to a reported 40 Million Dollars. He deserves every penny of it, in my view. I also think that HP is trying to move on in a major way as it made a bold move to buy the storage company 3PAR. This bold move was to show that it is in the game in a major way to stay in the game with IBM and Oracle.
Oracle, to me, is also a fascinating story. Larry Ellison is a self-made man who has built Oracle into the powerhouse that it is. I think that his audacious move to buy Sun Microsystems plays into his strategy to be a big time enterprise player. Bring Hurd on is exactly in line with his strategy to build up an enterprise-wide strategy to go both wide and deep.
There are, however, multiple challenges ahead with this strategy. First, HP has already gone after Hurd. I would have done the same simply because HP knows too much and I know how HP and Sun have fought it out in the Enterprise Arena. Sun's technology, though, is still closed and the roadmap is murky. This is as HP continues to make inroads in Enterprise and in services. But, Hurd knows where the bodies are buried. It is no wonder that Ellison wanted to get him to help build up the long-term strategy. But, Ellison was the guy who played hard ball and got Sun despite European Union Objections. There is no way he is going to back down--especially when a friend is involved.
Although the apparent current soap opera may not amount to much, it is actually part of the big picture of the evolution of the tech giants as we know it. I have been hoping that the tech industry helps to lead and sustain the recovery in the US that is apparently not sustainable right now. I had forewarned about this slowdown throughout my daily write-ups based on what I had seen on the street. The rate of transfer of jobs overseas is increasing ever more.
The Tech Giants will continue to grow and grow--whether that increase in wealth will translate into jobs and opportunities for the rest is an open question.
Mike Pouraryan
