The selection of Mark Hurd, currently president and CEO of NCR, to take the HP helm is getting an initial thumbs up from industry analysts who say the company needs an accomplished executive who can keep HP poised for success.After reviving NCR, Hurd now has another project on his hands, but industry watchers say he will bring steadiness to the company. Hurd is a 25-year veteran of NCR, a supplier of retail point-of-sale hardware and software. He was named president and chief executive officer (CEO) of the Dayton, Ohio, company in 2003 after serving as head of the company’s Teradata division, IDG News Service reported. Teradata provides data warehousing and customer-relationship management software to businesses. His experience running a company with multiple businesses will serve him well at HP, said Sam Bhavnani, an analyst with Current Analysis in La Jolla, Calif. “If you look at the track record, he took a company that was floundering and took it around to where it’s a very healthy company. HP’s board is looking to him to do something similar here, because he’s had success executing on strategies,” Bhavnani said. Tim Bajarin, president of Creative Strategies, said Hurd will help the company right itself, providing he continues to emphasize HP’s founding prtinciple of innovation. “At this point in HP’s history, Mark Hurd is the right man for the CEO job at HP,” he said in a Web posting. “Without a doubt, he is also the safest choice the board could have made. Given the high profile role Carly Fiorina had given herself and her resulting downfall, HP’s board could ill afford to bring in someone who was a potential prima donna and risk having the company focus on the cult of a new CEO instead of getting back to work and executing on what I still believe is a solid strategy. In fact, his hire reinforces the fact that their current plans are still valid and his history of being able to turn a company around without causing too much disruption appears to be at the heart of the board’s decision to make him their new CEO. And his proven ability to execute on strategy is one of his strong points. “By all accounts, Hurd is a loyal, pragmatic leader that understands the importance of company culture and the value that employees bring to the future of a company’s growth,” Bajarin said. “And, more importantly, he really understands that a company is only as good as its people. Unlike Fiorina, who alienated many long time employees from the start, Hurd is known for team building and for having a keen sensitivity to employee needs. This should endear him to the somewhat battered emotional state of HP’s current staff and evoke a better climate around HP’s campuses around the world.”Rob Enderle, founder and principal analyst of The Enderle Group, also said Hurd will bring stability to HP, at least for the short term. “The selection of Mark Hurd is consistent with a stay the course strategy from HP and one that suggests that Vyomesh Joshi (VJ), HP’s head of personal computers and printing and imaging is clearly on a fast track for the top job,” Enderle said in a Web posting. “Hurd’s tenure should be no less then 3 years but no more then 5 allowing for the critical time necessary to groom VJ for the job and for VJ to groom his successor. “Expect Hurd to focus on the basics, making HP more efficient, eliminating extra waste and carrying out the strategy in place while helping train VJ for the position,” Enderle said. “The company break up appears to remain solidly off the table and increasingly unlikely with this change and customers should feel comfortable that they won’t, yet again, have to get to know the ‘new HP.'” Technology Industry