HP Shuffles Enterprise Group Execs, Leaves ESSN Mostly Intact
HP is streamlining region and country sales leadership in its Enterprise Group, which includes the global accounts sales organization, the Enterprise Servers, Storage and Networking (ESSN) division, and HP Technology Services.
Led by ESSN chief Dave Donatelli, the Enterprise Group will retain most of ESSN's existing sales executives, according to an internal HP memo published by All Things Digital.
Richard Geraffo, a former VMware executive who joined HP in 2010, is heading up Americas sales. Randy Seidl, who previously was senior vice president of ESSN's Americas business, is now heading up the Enterprise Group's U.S. operations.
Jim Merritt, a former Dell executive who joined HP in January, is in charge of sales for the Asia Pacific and Japan; Peter Ryan, a former Sun and IBM executive who was tapped to head ESSN's EMEA business last July, will hold the same role in the Enterprise division; and Piau Phang Foo is now running the Enterprise Group's greater China operations.
Yves de Talhouet, senior vice president of HP's Enterprise Business and managing director for HP Europe, does not yet have a role in the Enterprise division, but Donatelli said HP will announce his position "in the near future."
Donatelli did not mention HP's appointment of Stephen DeWitt, former chief of HP's WebOS business unit, to the role of business marketing lead in the Enterprise Group, reporting to Chief Marketing Officer Marty Homlish.
Donatelli, who described the changes as part of "a bold plan to make our company better," also did not say whether sales positions will be eliminated in the Enterprise Group consolidation, which is part of CEO Meg Whitman's broader plan to reshape HP into a leaner, flatter organization that works more easily for partners.
"In the coming weeks you will see many announcements supporting the sales alignment," Donatelli said in the memo.
HP also plans to continue improving its supply chain, which is still recovering from the impact of last year's floods in Thailand. He also endeavored to highlight the things that HP is not changing, such as its regional Enterprise Group business unit structure and sales specialists.
"If you are a sales Specialist today, your job is not changing. Our Account Managers continue to be important in representing one HP face to our customers," Donatelli said in the memo.
HP last week named new channel leaders for its Printers and Personal Systems (PPS) division, which is led John Solomon, senior vice president and general manager.