HP Printing And Personal Systems Exec Takes Apple VP Enterprise, Government Job

John Solomon, a 20-year Hewlett-Packard veteran who was most recently general manager of the company's consumer printing global business unit, has taken a job as as vice president of enterprise and government for Apple.

Solomon listed his new position on his LinkedIn account. His departure from HP was first reported by Re/code. HP confirmed Solomon had left the company. Apple could not be reached for comment.

[Related: HP Printing-PC Channel Veteran Jumps To Enterprise Unit, Says He's Bullish On Future ]

Solomon's departure comes with a number of HP employees making moves in the wake of HP's anticipated split effective Nov. 1 into two new new publicly traded Fortune 50 companies.

The creation of the two new companies, a $57 billion printing and personal systems business known as HP Inc. and a $57 billion Hewlett-Packard Enterprise business made up of enterprise systems, software and services, opens the door for a major restructuring of the two businesses.

Just last week, HP Vice President Scott Dunsire, who has led the channel charge in the Printing and Personal Systems (PPS) business in various roles for nearly eight years, took the top Americas channel job effective Feb. 1 with Hewlett-Packard Enterprise. HP is set to name a replacement for Dunsire in the next several weeks. One HP solution provider, who did not want to be identified, said he expects more changes as both HP Inc. and Hewlett-Packard Enterprise finalize their go-to-market plans and teams. "There's a lot of HP executives looking at what's the best career option for them," he said.

Another HP solution provider, who did not want to be identified, said he sees changes within the PPS management structure as inevitable given the split. He said HP rivals are no doubt aggressively recruiting HP executives as they try to gain printing and systems share from HP in the wake of the split. "I expect to see consolidation in that market," he said.

As far as Apple's ability to tap Solomon's expertise to crack the enterprise computing market, one HP solution provider, who did not want to be identified, was skeptical. "The words 'Apple' and 'enterprise' do not belong in the same sentence," he said. "They have horrible channel programs."

PUBLISHED JAN. 12, 2015