HP VARs: Maybe More Oracle Rivalry, Definitely More Software Focus

Does Hewlett-Packard's naming of former software executives to top positions signal a new competitive push against Oracle? Solution providers interviewed for this story were mixed on that point, but all agreed that it does mean HP will focus more on its software business.

HP last Thursday named Leo Apotheker, former CEO of German ERP software giant SAP, as CEO, president and a member of HP's board of directors. The company also appointed Ray Lane, former president and CEO of Oracle, as its new non-executive chairman.

Apotheker and Lane take over for Mark Hurd, HP's former president, CEO and chairman. Hurd is now a co-president at Oracle.

One longtime HP solution provider who did not want to be identified called the appointment of Apotheker and Lane an obvious declaration by HP that it sees Oracle as a competitive threat.

"It's very hard to see these two announcements as anything less than a very clear statement from HP that they view Oracle as a direct competitor to be taken very, very seriously, after Oracle's Sun acquisition and now that Mark Hurd is on board," the solution provider said.

NEXT: Getting More Software Savvy?

Another HP solution provider, who also wished to remain anonymous, disagreed.

"I don't think you take the world's largest company, one that is multi-disciplined, and focus on a company that it's not really competing with," the solution provider said. "Oracle's core business is databases, and HP doesn't have a competing product. It's not like IBM, which has DB2, or Microsoft, which has SQL.

Instead, the solution provider believes, HP will make a major investment to compete not with Oracle, but in the software business overall.

"HP has acquired software companies in the past," he said. "But the company's sales teams don't carry software quotas unless they work directly with that particular product line. My hope for Apotheker is that he comes in and unifies HP's software strategy. If he can show the same commitment to software that HP does with everything else, that would be a good change."

NEXT: It’s Not About Oracle

Any potential competitive threat to Oracle from HP and its new executives is purely incidental, said John Convery, executive vice president of vendor relations and marketing at Denali Advanced Integration, a Redmond, Wash.-based HP partner.

Software is the key to HP's future, and the company knows it, Convery said.

Software currently accounts for only 2 percent to 3 percent of HP's bottom line, but HP has for some time recognized the importance of expanding its software business, Convery said.

"Hurd, when he did presentations with us, always said, 'Software is the glue, especially for converged infrastructure, and HP will develop software either by itself or through acquisitions,' " he said.