HP's new boss: Who is he?

With a long and unbroken history at NCR and a correspondingly low public profile, the reaction to the news of Mark Hurd's appointment as HP's CEO has been one of 'Who'?

What's he like? Having worked in a series of roles within retail and financial services tech firm NCR in sales and marketing and operations, Hurd is credited with turning around the company's performance. Indeed, HP execs cited his bottom-line boosting behaviour during his tenure as NCR CEO as one of the reasons behind his being offered the role.

Under Hurd in 2003, NCR saw its profits rise almost fivefold - Hurd helped the company's net income nearly quintuple, from $58m to $285m.

However, he's very much regarded by outsiders as a man to steady the ship rather than plot innovative new courses.

Where's he from? Everything about the man seems to scream low-key. Following his graduation in 1979, Hurd joined Teradata, now a division of NCR, in 1980, working his way up from field salesman to head of the company over a period of 25 years.

What do his staff say about him? An NCR employee described him as a " great people person. He is well-known for never forgetting a name and has always been very approachable." Belying his image, he added Hurd was a "passionate leader".

"If he can get his hands round an organisation the size of HP then I think he'll do a great job in returning their competitiveness, and focusing them on profitable operations," he said.

What attracted HP to him? As well as his steady track record, HP's announcement of Hurd's appointment describes him as having a "straightforward style" - none of the Fiorina fireworks. Hurd's capacity to head a diverse, multi-united business - NCR's portfolio includes data warehousing, services, CRM and ATMs, among others - also appealed.

How's he different from Fiorina? Insiders say that Fiorina kept her distance from the HP old school, preferring to surround herself with her own entourage. HP seems to be hinting that it expects Hurd to be a little more touchy-feely, with Patricia Dunn, HP's non-executive chairman saying in a statement that Hurd has an eye for "internal talent" and building a "strong leadership team" around him.

What else has he done? In addition to his post as president and CEO of NCR, Hurd has already co-authored a book, The Value Factor: How Global Leaders Use Information for Growth and Competitive Advantage, expounding the virtues of data warehousing. With such praise for data warehousing coming from a data warehousing company, one critic was prompted to call it an "elongated marketing document".

What can we expect from him? With his feet barely under the table, Hurd was today being cagey on his future plans. With a history of cost-cutting and layoffs behind him at NCR, he hinted that he would consider trimming expenditure at HP and said he will "do what it takes to optimise the business".

"I've not changed my stripes," he said.

When queried about whether he would consider spinning off any of HP's units, Hurd said: "I would prefer to analyse the situation [first]" and added that studying any unit's viability for a potential spinning-off "isn't really the first thing I'm working on".

Both Hurd and Dunn denied rumours that a commitment to keep HP as a single company was a condition of his employment.

How will he start his tenure? "I don't know any way to do it except get underneath the business and meet every person I can possibly meet," he said. And while acknowledging the similarities between his current and past employer, he said: "It would be wrong for me to take the same formula I had at NCR."

Will he be good for HP? Analysts' reactions are mixed. "NCR has fallen so far off the radar. They have essentially been level, at best, for over a decade" in the general-purpose server market," said Jonathan Eunice, an analyst at Illuminata. HP instead should have tried to recruit one of the many lifers out of IBM, Eunice said.

IDC's Roger Kay, however, disagreed. "He's got the right resume [for HP], and he's been working for a solid company. The story on NCR is more or less: it's been back from the brink."

CNET News.com's Matt Hines and Michael Kanellos contributed to this report