In a reorganization that follows its $13.9 billion purchase of EDS, the Texas-based business services giant, Hewlett-Packard announced Friday that EDS Chief Executive Ron Rittenmeyer will retire and his former company will become a unit of HP’s business technology division.
The move is a coup for Ann Livermore, the executive vice president in charge of HP’s Technology Solutions Group, who will be adding EDS to a portfolio that also includes computer servers, software and networking equipment.
When the acquisition was announced over the summer, both companies said EDS would become a stand-alone division of HP, with Rittenmeyer reporting directly to HP CEO Mark Hurd.
HP already had a smaller technology services business that was part of Livermore’s division, and some of those operations were transferred to the new EDS division under a plan announced in September. But under the reorganization announced Friday, Livermore will now oversee a combined division that had sales of $14.6 billion, or 43 percent of HP’s total revenue, in the most recent fiscal quarter.
HP did not give a reason for the retirement of 61-year-old Rittenmeyer, but the company said in a statement that the new structure will help increase revenue and improve efficiency. A longtime EDS executive, Joe Eazor, will become a senior vice president responsible for EDS operations and reporting to Livermore.
Contact Brandon Bailey at bbailey@mercurynews.com or (408) 920-5022.
