V.J. Is The Right Man

Joshi, a 25-year HP veteran, has for all practical purposes saved the company by consistently delivering bang-up results in the channel-centric cash-cow imaging and printing group. Joshi knows what has to be done and has proven time and time again that he can execute. The onetime HP engineer has won the all-important confidence of HP's many constituencies—from HP partners to HP employees and shareholders—and would be a no-nonsense consensus builder at a time when HP needs it most. As for the channel, Joshi may be the only executive who understands the in-the-trenches sales challenges facing the company. There just is no one else who can quickly and decisively get HP firing on all channel cylinders.

The problem with bringing in an outsider at this point is that the company will be faced with another cultural shock to the system at the very time it can least afford it. Does HP really have the luxury of another six months or a year of uncertainty as a new CEO figures out the strategy and which buttons need to be pressed? And let's face it, no outsider worth his stripes is going to tolerate being handed a strategy that he or she must simply execute.

Onetime IBM CEO Lou Gerstner's famous statement upon taking the helm at the once-troubled company when it was moving toward a breakup comes to mind when you talk about considering Joshi for HP's top spot. Gerstner caused quite a stir by stating that the last thing IBM needed at the time was a vision.

The most electrifying moment at last week's HP Americas Partner Conference came when Joshi rallied several thousand partners with a battle cry that now is the time to beat Dell and IBM. In a speech that was interrupted more than a few times by thunderous applause, Joshi told partners that no one can touch HP if the company and its partners "work together as an extended team."

Joshi is right. No one can touch an HP that truly leverages partners. The time is now. V.J. is the man. HP is too important an institution for this industry and this country to let it twist in the wind for another year. The board should do the right thing and give him the job. V.J. is the underdog who should be the top dog.

Who do you think should be the new HP CEO? Let me know at (781) 839-1221 or via e-mail at [email protected].