HP Appoints New Head Of Enterprise Services

Visentin, who previously ran HP Enterprise Services for the Americas, was promoted to executive vice president of HP Enterprise Services and a member of the company's Executive Council where he will report directly to Leo Apotheker, HP president and chief executive officer.

Visentin is stepping into a role previously held by Tom Iannotti, who earlier this year announced plans to retire.

The news about the new leadership at HP Enterprise Services comes on a day of great change at HP, which also said that it plans to acquire cloud data management services provider Autonomy, is shutting down its webOS device business, and is looking to sell its huge PC business.

HP Enterprise Services is the current incarnation of the old EDS business, which HP in mid-2008 acquired for $13.9 billion.

HP Enterprise Services is an integral part of HP's overall services business.

HP on Thursday reported that its services revenue grew 4 percent in its third fiscal quarter compared to the same period as last year, and that services provides the company a 13.5-percent operating margin.

Services accounted for about 29 percent of HP's overall revenue in the quarter.

Three of the primary parts of HP's services offerings -- IT Infrastructure Outsourcing (ITO), Application Services, and Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) -- are the core of HP Enterprise Services.

The fourth services offering, Technology Services, was moved from HP Enterprise Services to become part of HP's huge Enterprise Servers, Storage and Networking (ESSN) division.

HP on Thursday also expanded its services offerings with the planned acquisition of Autonomy, a British-based provider of cloud-based information management services. However, Autonomy is slated to be a separate business within HP, reporting directly to Apotheker.

Geoffrey Lilien, CEO of Lilien Systems, a Larkspur, Calif.-based solution provider and HP partner who has been among the top 10 partners in terms of the percentage of HP services attached to product sales, said he believes Visentin's appointment shows HP is moving forward towards expanding its role as a provider of services.

"Leo (Apotheker, HP president and CEO) has been talking a lot about expanding HP's services footprint," Lilien said. "I'm sure this is a well-calculated part of his move to do just that."

Apotheker, in a statement, said, "John is a world-class services executive who will accelerate our efforts in delivering high-value services around cloud, security, mobility, application modernization and industry solutions. I am pleased to have John as a member of the Executive Council."