HP Names SAP's Apotheker New CEO

Hewlett-Packard on Thursday named Leo Apotheker, former SAP CEO, as its new CEO and president.

HP's Board of Directors also elected Ray Lane, Managing Partner at Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, as non-executive chairman and the newest member of the Board.

Both appointments will be effective on November 1.

The appointments of Apotheker and Lane end the drama of who will take the helm in the wake of the departure of Mark Hurd, who served as chairman, president, and CEO of HP until his departure last month in the wake of allegations of improperly-filed expense reports.

Hurd is currently co-president of Oracle.

Next: Who Are Apotheker And Lane?

Apotheker spent over 20 years at SAP, and lead the company to 18 consecutive quarters of double-digit software revenue growth between 2004 and 2009, HP said on Thursday.

The appointment of Apotheker, a long-time veteran of the software industry, comes at a time when HP is looking to more closely tie its software and hardware together as a more complete solution, particularly in relation to its converged infrastructure strategy.

That software focus will become more important in the future as Oracle, an HP rival, looks to tie its database and middleware technology closely to the hardware products it received from its acquisition of Sun Microsystems.

Lane brings to HP a wide range of experience, including a stint as president and CEO of Oracle, a position close to that now occupied by Hurd at Oracle.

Lane served on the Board of Directors of over 20 public and private companies, and joined Kleiner Perkins in 2000. He also previously spent time at Booz Allen Hamilton, EDS, and IBM.