SHARE

What’s Behind HP’s Printer Reorg?

Reorganizations are usually done when a division, unit or company is performing poorly or not executing properly. They tend to be quite disruptive, complete with layoffs. So why in the world would a company reorganize one of its most successful divisions? In the case of HP, it has begun a restructuring of its Imaging and […]

Written By

AP

Andy Patrizio

Jun 23, 2008

Datamation content and product recommendations are editorially independent. We may make money when you click on links to our partners. Learn More

Reorganizations are usually done when a division, unit or company is performing poorly or not executing properly. They tend to be quite disruptive, complete with layoffs. So why in the world would a company reorganize one of its most successful divisions?

In the case of HP, it has begun a restructuring of its Imaging and Printing Group (IPG) to offer some efficiencies, but it won’t be anywhere near as big a change as is normally associated with a reorg. No one, for example, is going to lose their job.

“There’s no big change or anything to signal,” Alyson Griffin, a spokesperson for HP, told InternetNews.com. “It’s literally just a follow on from our Print 2.0 transformation last year and a continuing effort to streamline the organization.”

HP’s Print 2.0 initiative is designed to connect better with the digital age with support for new devices and means of capturing, sharing and displaying images.

The five previous divisions, run by Vyomesh “VJ” Joshi, who has led the group since 2000 and will remain its head, were LaserJet, InkJet, Graphics, supplies, and Enterprise. Graphics remains unchanged. It will continue to support everything from billboards to packing slips with their printing supplies.

Connecting products with their parts

One of the shortcomings of the old structure was that parts were separate from the devices, so things like ink and paper were separate from InkJet and LaserJet. Now all of the InkJet parts will be in the InkJet unit and LaserJet supplies like toner will under the same roof as the printer.

InkJet and its supplies, as well as Web solutions, will be streamlined into one group while LaserJet and enterprise, due to their natural pairing, will become the third group. “We basically said ‘hey, let’s make this tighter’, so we can be more agile, reduce cost structure, enable growth and enhance the customer experience,” said Griffin.

Analyst Shaw Wu of American Technology Research figured it wouldn’t be a huge change. “I think it’s just adapting the business to cope with the realities of the market, and what’s likely to emerge as the newer reality,” he said. “It’s already a pretty decent business as it is. I think it’s just a feeling that the new culture with [CEO Mark] Hurd is they don’t want to rest on their laurels.”

This article was first published on InternetNews.com. To read the full article, click here.

Huawei’s AI Update: Things Are Moving Faster Than We Think

FEATURE | By Rob Enderle,
December 04, 2020
Keeping Machine Learning Algorithms Honest in the ‘Ethics-First’ Era

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE | By Guest Author,
November 18, 2020
Key Trends in Chatbots and RPA

FEATURE | By Guest Author,
November 10, 2020
Top 10 AIOps Companies

FEATURE | By Samuel Greengard,
November 05, 2020
What is Text Analysis?

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE | By Guest Author,
November 02, 2020
How Intel’s Work With Autonomous Cars Could Redefine General Purpose AI

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE | By Rob Enderle,
October 29, 2020
Dell Technologies World: Weaving Together Human And Machine Interaction For AI And Robotics

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE | By Rob Enderle,
October 23, 2020
The Super Moderator, or How IBM Project Debater Could Save Social Media

FEATURE | By Rob Enderle,
October 16, 2020
Top 10 Chatbot Platforms

FEATURE | By Cynthia Harvey,
October 07, 2020
Finding a Career Path in AI

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE | By Guest Author,
October 05, 2020
CIOs Discuss the Promise of AI and Data Science

FEATURE | By Guest Author,
September 25, 2020
Microsoft Is Building An AI Product That Could Predict The Future

FEATURE | By Rob Enderle,
September 25, 2020
Top 10 Machine Learning Companies 2020

FEATURE | By Cynthia Harvey,
September 22, 2020
NVIDIA and ARM: Massively Changing The AI Landscape

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE | By Rob Enderle,
September 18, 2020
Continuous Intelligence: Expert Discussion [Video and Podcast]

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE | By James Maguire,
September 14, 2020
Artificial Intelligence: Governance and Ethics [Video]

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE | By James Maguire,
September 13, 2020
IBM Watson At The US Open: Showcasing The Power Of A Mature Enterprise-Class AI

FEATURE | By Rob Enderle,
September 11, 2020
Artificial Intelligence: Perception vs. Reality

FEATURE | By James Maguire,
September 09, 2020
Anticipating The Coming Wave Of AI Enhanced PCs

FEATURE | By Rob Enderle,
September 05, 2020
The Critical Nature Of IBM’s NLP (Natural Language Processing) Effort

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE | By Rob Enderle,
August 14, 2020

SEE ALL
ARTICLES

AP

Andy Patrizio

Andy Patrizio is a freelance journalist based in southern California who has covered the computer industry for 20 years and has built every x86 PC he’s ever owned, laptops not included.

What’s Behind HP’s Printer Reorg?

Andy Patrizio

Recommended for you...

Company

Categories

What’s Behind HP’s Printer Reorg?

RELATED NEWS AND ANALYSIS

Andy Patrizio

Recommended for you...

Company

Categories