Hewlett-Packard (NYSE: HPQ) named former eBay CEO Meg Whitman as its chief executive Thursday, ousting Leo Apotheker, who held the reins for just 11 months. For enterprise customers, it remains to be seen whether Whitman's great success in the consumer tech industry will translate to the business-to-business market.

Since Apotheker announced some serious shake-ups in HP's business in August--plans to spin off the PC unit, shut down the webOS device unit, and spend $10 billion on software maker Autonomy--CIOs have expressed concerns about whether the vendor will remain responsive to the needs of its core customers. The announcements came as such a surprise that they left customers--not to mention investors--confused about the company's direction, writes InformationWeek's Chris Murphy.

When HP put Apotheker at the helm, it wasn't clear why a software veteran should head up a hardware and services business, and it may not be much clearer why a consumer tech veteran should be put in charge. However, if Whitman, as a longtime purchaser of enterprise technology, is better able to relate to the needs of the core customers, she may provide greater assurance than her predecessor did, Murphy suggests.

The rapid succession of CEOs at HP of late--Apotheker following Mark Hurd following Carly Fiorina--makes the company's directors look less than stable when it comes to appointing leadership, notes Computerworld's Patrick Thibodeau. Whitman led eBay to a global brand from a small firm, and her leadership skills in general are well-established, but it's unknown whether she can apply those skills to a business focused on enterprise customers.

The changing of the guard doesn't change the major challenges that HP faces. Apotheker's mandate was "move HP into higher value, higher margin growth categories," and that is likely what Whitman is charged with too, writes Network World's John Dix.

Behind all the changing faces at the top is the reality that the company is showing some positive results from its efforts to concentrate on higher margin businesses, Dix points out. The service business, stemming from the purchase of EDS, made up 28 percent of revenue in the first three quarters of this fiscal year.

For more:
- see Chris Murphy's article at InformationWeek
- see Patrick Thibodeau's post at Computerworld
- see John Dix's post at Network World

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