Weynand heads new HP public-sector group

James Weynand will head Hewlett-Packard Co.'s new public-sector business now that HP of Palo Alto, Calif., and Compaq Computer Corp. of Houston have combined their operations.

Weynand had been vice president of government and education markets for Compaq before the company was acquired by HP. Ron Ross, who was president of Compaq's federal government unit, has left the company, Weynand said.

Bruce Klein, who was national federal sales manager for HP, will continue to run the federal business for the combined companies, Weynand said.

The rest of HP's government organization is still being put together. Weynand said he expected to his team in the next week.

The combination of HP and Compaq is creating a public-sector business with more than $5 billion in annual revenue from federal, state and local and education customers, Weynand said. About 33 percent of the revenue is generated by the various server lines the company has as well as software.

Personal systems, such as desktop computers, workstations and handheld devices, account for 35 percent of government revenue.

Services bring in 15 percent of annual revenue. Printers and imaging products pull in the remaining 17 percent.

Weynand said he expects the public-sector business to grow at better than the 10 percent to 11 percent annual rate of the market as a whole. Partnerships with systems integrators will be the cornerstone of HP's strategy in the government market, he said.

In the first two days of trading, the stock of the new HP has risen nearly 6 percent, from $17.44 May 3 to $18.41 May 7.