'Neat Room' Lets HP, Compaq Managers Plan Integration While Still Doing Jobs

Hewlett-Packard Compaq Computer

Neat room is the term used for HP and Compaq personnel that were involved in planning the integration of the two companies but not to the point where they had access to documents from their erstwhile partners who were, after all, still rivals, said Jim Milton, senior vice president and North America general manager at Compaq.

Milton, who Wednesday was unveiled as the regional manager for the Americas for the Enterprise Systems Group of the combined company, said he was a member of the neat room.

As such, Milton said he has access to forward-looking documents from Compaq, but HP documents were off-limits. "I can interface with the clean room team and see the integrated plans, but not any HP plans," he said. "We are competitors officially until the consummation of the merger."

While clean room members are completely isolated from their day-to-day jobs at their respective companies, neat room members still had to perform their normal jobs, Milton said. "I can participate in the planning, but not in the execution of any plans," he said.

Milton said the naming of 150 key managers in the combined HP/Compaq was significant for moving forward in the integration of the two companies. "It's an extension of the more than one-million man-hours spent by people in the clean room," he said.