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A conversation with Mark Hurd on HP, R&D and the importance of
customers
Portrait of Mark Hurd with words 'advance your business, improve your
productivity, enrich your life'
By Richard Fly
"I want HP to be known as the company customers can trust to deliver —
that once we make a commitment, they can bank on us to live up to it.
If we do that, HP will be successful, but most important, our
customers will be successful," says Mark Hurd, chief executive
officer and president, Hewlett-Packard
June 2005 -- In a recent conversation with hp.com, Mark Hurd, the new
CEO and President of HP, discussed HP, R&D, and you, our
customers. We learned that in Mark's view, the secret to business
success isn't really so secret. At every stop — and there have been a
lot of them during his first two months on the job — he urges
employees to focus on the customer.
The way he sees it, this isn't just a business philosophy; it's an
operating principle that drives every decision we make — from HP
investments in research and development, to how we align our
businesses and partner with customers, to the quality of the service
and support we provide to you.
"Customers are the most important asset that HP has," he said. "We're
very focused on helping customers solve problems and improve their
business. And we're determined to earn the trust, loyalty and
confidence of our customers every day. That takes focus and
commitment from every one of us at HP."
Investing in Research & Development
One of Mark's priorities since he became CEO has been to spend as much
time as possible listening to you and understanding your needs and
expectations. What he's heard, time and again, is that you look to HP
to apply technology in innovative ways.
"We are one of only a handful of systems companies left on the planet
that invests in significant R&D," he said. "My goal is for HP to
be the R&D leader in the areas strategic to HP and our customers.
I want them to think of HP as a company that's driving useful
innovation and bringing it to market in the most efficient way
possible to help them solve problems or improve their lives."
Overall, HP spends $3.5 billion on R&D – from the world-renowned
research of HP Labs to the leading-edge innovation of HP's
businesses. We are investing in emerging technologies such as
nano-electronics, in breakthroughs in imaging and printing, and in
products and services that enable enterprise customers to automate
more IT functions for greater efficiency, flexibility and a better
return on IT investment.
Applying technology for customer value
"One thing I've found is that customers know HP is doing a lot of
innovative things, but not all of them are aware of exactly what
we're doing. We want to create more visibility and awareness — to
give customers better access to some of the things we're working on
in HP Labs and the businesses," Mark said.
"CEOs are becoming more technology literate. They're willing to spend
more time on technology. They want to come and kick the tires. They
want to see what we're working on — not specific projects necessarily
but technology issues and ideas we're exploring and how they could be
applied to their business a few years out. HP's technology people and
senior executives are all willing to spend time on those kinds of
subjects."
Everything HP is doing in R&D is focused on simplifying
technology, and creating products and services that give you greater
value and a competitive advantage. "R&D done right can make
significant changes in the way you think about your business,
simplify your processes, reduce your cost structure or improve your
ability to deal with customers," he said. "By teaming with our
customers, we can apply that technology and look for specific ways
that we can use it to help their business be more successful."
Partnering with Customers
Building partnerships with customers is central to Mark's expectations
for HP and the value we deliver. It's something he's been doing as a
sales executive and business leader for more than two decades. His
approach is built on two fundamental principles: openness and
accountability.
"When we deal with customers, we want to have a clear discussion on
expectations. We want to clearly understand our customers'
opportunities as well as their issues and problems. We want to have a
frank discussion about the products and services we can deliver to
address those issues and opportunities. And we want to set very clear
expectations about how we will work together," he said.
Customers Benefit from HP's Broad Portfolio
Customers also benefit from the breadth and depth of HP's portfolio,
he said. "An integrated relationship makes life easier. If you're an
enterprise and you're buying servers and storage and services, you'd
prefer an integrated solution to meet your needs. We're one of the
few companies that can deliver an integrated solution. It fits with
what customers want — more accountability on the part of their
vendors."
In addition, Mark sees an opportunity for HP to do a better job of
leveraging its capabilities across the consumer, SMB and enterprise
markets. For example, HP's expertise in the consumer market "plays
well for us in terms of look and feel and other capabilities that we
bring to the enterprise markets." Likewise, HP's leadership in
industry standard computing for the enterprise enables us to develop
powerful solutions tailored for the needs of small and mid-size
businesses.
HP's Focus is on the Customer
The ultimate test of a company's customer focus, of course, is its
ability to deliver quality products and services that are well
supported. "We're trying to make every HP customer a loyal HP
customer for the rest of their lives," Mark said, "and the most
important differentiator that brings the customer back is quality
service and support."
Mark said he recently received an e-mail from a customer who had
called HP to solve a problem with his printer. "It turns out the
customer was also having a problem with a competitor's PC. The HP
person on the phone helped him with the PC even though it wasn't one
of ours. The customer told me that the next time he buys a PC he's
going to buy it from HP. That kind of customer-focused support really
makes a difference, and we aspire to do that with every customer
engagement."
HP's goal, Mark said, is to help you, our customers advance your
businesses, improve your productivity and enrich your lives. "We're
going to help them get that done faster and do it better than anybody
else on the planet," he said. "I want HP to be known as the company
customers can trust to deliver — that once we make a commitment, they
can bank on us to live up to it. If we do that, HP will be successful,
but most important, our customers will be successful."
http://www.jlaforums.com/viewtopic.php?t=154554
A conversation with Mark Hurd on HP, R&D and the importance of
customers
Portrait of Mark Hurd with words 'advance your business, improve your
productivity, enrich your life'
By Richard Fly
"I want HP to be known as the company customers can trust to deliver —
that once we make a commitment, they can bank on us to live up to it.
If we do that, HP will be successful, but most important, our
customers will be successful," says Mark Hurd, chief executive
officer and president, Hewlett-Packard
June 2005 -- In a recent conversation with hp.com, Mark Hurd, the new
CEO and President of HP, discussed HP, R&D, and you, our
customers. We learned that in Mark's view, the secret to business
success isn't really so secret. At every stop — and there have been a
lot of them during his first two months on the job — he urges
employees to focus on the customer.
The way he sees it, this isn't just a business philosophy; it's an
operating principle that drives every decision we make — from HP
investments in research and development, to how we align our
businesses and partner with customers, to the quality of the service
and support we provide to you.
"Customers are the most important asset that HP has," he said. "We're
very focused on helping customers solve problems and improve their
business. And we're determined to earn the trust, loyalty and
confidence of our customers every day. That takes focus and
commitment from every one of us at HP."
Investing in Research & Development
One of Mark's priorities since he became CEO has been to spend as much
time as possible listening to you and understanding your needs and
expectations. What he's heard, time and again, is that you look to HP
to apply technology in innovative ways.
"We are one of only a handful of systems companies left on the planet
that invests in significant R&D," he said. "My goal is for HP to
be the R&D leader in the areas strategic to HP and our customers.
I want them to think of HP as a company that's driving useful
innovation and bringing it to market in the most efficient way
possible to help them solve problems or improve their lives."
Overall, HP spends $3.5 billion on R&D – from the world-renowned
research of HP Labs to the leading-edge innovation of HP's
businesses. We are investing in emerging technologies such as
nano-electronics, in breakthroughs in imaging and printing, and in
products and services that enable enterprise customers to automate
more IT functions for greater efficiency, flexibility and a better
return on IT investment.
Applying technology for customer value
"One thing I've found is that customers know HP is doing a lot of
innovative things, but not all of them are aware of exactly what
we're doing. We want to create more visibility and awareness — to
give customers better access to some of the things we're working on
in HP Labs and the businesses," Mark said.
"CEOs are becoming more technology literate. They're willing to spend
more time on technology. They want to come and kick the tires. They
want to see what we're working on — not specific projects necessarily
but technology issues and ideas we're exploring and how they could be
applied to their business a few years out. HP's technology people and
senior executives are all willing to spend time on those kinds of
subjects."
Everything HP is doing in R&D is focused on simplifying
technology, and creating products and services that give you greater
value and a competitive advantage. "R&D done right can make
significant changes in the way you think about your business,
simplify your processes, reduce your cost structure or improve your
ability to deal with customers," he said. "By teaming with our
customers, we can apply that technology and look for specific ways
that we can use it to help their business be more successful."
Partnering with Customers
Building partnerships with customers is central to Mark's expectations
for HP and the value we deliver. It's something he's been doing as a
sales executive and business leader for more than two decades. His
approach is built on two fundamental principles: openness and
accountability.
"When we deal with customers, we want to have a clear discussion on
expectations. We want to clearly understand our customers'
opportunities as well as their issues and problems. We want to have a
frank discussion about the products and services we can deliver to
address those issues and opportunities. And we want to set very clear
expectations about how we will work together," he said.
Customers Benefit from HP's Broad Portfolio
Customers also benefit from the breadth and depth of HP's portfolio,
he said. "An integrated relationship makes life easier. If you're an
enterprise and you're buying servers and storage and services, you'd
prefer an integrated solution to meet your needs. We're one of the
few companies that can deliver an integrated solution. It fits with
what customers want — more accountability on the part of their
vendors."
In addition, Mark sees an opportunity for HP to do a better job of
leveraging its capabilities across the consumer, SMB and enterprise
markets. For example, HP's expertise in the consumer market "plays
well for us in terms of look and feel and other capabilities that we
bring to the enterprise markets." Likewise, HP's leadership in
industry standard computing for the enterprise enables us to develop
powerful solutions tailored for the needs of small and mid-size
businesses.
HP's Focus is on the Customer
The ultimate test of a company's customer focus, of course, is its
ability to deliver quality products and services that are well
supported. "We're trying to make every HP customer a loyal HP
customer for the rest of their lives," Mark said, "and the most
important differentiator that brings the customer back is quality
service and support."
Mark said he recently received an e-mail from a customer who had
called HP to solve a problem with his printer. "It turns out the
customer was also having a problem with a competitor's PC. The HP
person on the phone helped him with the PC even though it wasn't one
of ours. The customer told me that the next time he buys a PC he's
going to buy it from HP. That kind of customer-focused support really
makes a difference, and we aspire to do that with every customer
engagement."
HP's goal, Mark said, is to help you, our customers advance your
businesses, improve your productivity and enrich your lives. "We're
going to help them get that done faster and do it better than anybody
else on the planet," he said. "I want HP to be known as the company
customers can trust to deliver — that once we make a commitment, they
can bank on us to live up to it. If we do that, HP will be successful,
but most important, our customers will be successful."
http://www.jlaforums.com/viewtopic.php?t=154554
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