HP Combines PC, Printer Divisions, Expands Donatelli's Role

Hewlett-Packard on Wednesday announced an organizational reshuffle that will merge its PC and printer business units and expand the role of Dave Donatelli, executive vice president of HP's Enterprise Servers, Storage and Networking (ESSN) division.

As head of the newly formed HP Enterprise Group, Donatelli will oversee HP's global accounts sales organization as well as ESSN and HP Technology Services. Jan Zadak, executive vice president of global sales, will be taking on an as-yet unspecified role within HP, the company said in a statement.

Todd Bradley, executive vice president of the Personal Systems Group, will lead the merged business unit, which accounted for $66 billion in revenue last year and will be called the Printing and Personal Systems Group.

"This combination will bring together two businesses where HP has established global leadership," Whitman said in a statement.

Vyomesh Joshi, executive vice president of HP's Imaging and Printing Group (IPG) and a 31-year HP veteran, will leave the company, HP said.

HP did not say whether the move will result in layoffs, but channel partners expect there to be some consolidation at the channel field level. HP currently has close to 350,000 employees.

HP is also consolidating marketing efforts across all its business units under Marty Homlish, chief marketing officer; and communications efforts under Henry Gomez, executive vice president and chief communications officer.

At HP's Global Partner Conference last month, CEO Meg Whitman said she plans to advance the notion of "One HP" through a corporate marketing campaign that will include consistent messaging across all of HP's business units.

HP in 2005 tried combining PSG and IPG but reversed course after six months. This time around, HP says uniting the two divisions will lead to cost savings and "drive innovation" in PCs and printers.

HP last year tried unsuccessfully to sell or spin off PSG, and some partners believe the company is adding IPG to the mix as a precursor to a possible second attempt.

Combining PSG and IPG will open up possibilities for HP, said Dean Cappellazzo, CEO of Bedrock Technology Partners, a San Mateo, Calif.-based solution provider. "If they decide to spin it out of HP as a sister company, they could focus strictly on ESSN business," he said. "And with PCs and printers in one group, they could get more for it if they decide to sell it."

HP did not specify an official role for Stephen DeWitt, the senior vice president and general manager of HP's WebOS global business unit who has been working with Whitman on "special projects." DeWitt's role has also been unclear since HP scuttled the TouchPad last August, though Whitman told CRN in January that he planned to remain with the company.

"He's not going away," Whitman said at the time. "He's been working on a couple of special projects for me as I came in, around sales force and go-to-market, which he knows incredibly well. I think we've got a really good assignment for Stephen, so stay tuned."