The ex-CEO of Hewlett-Packard Co., Mark Hurd, who’s controversial ousting from the job by the board of directors as a result of a sexual harassment investigation that did not confirm any allegations of sexual harassment but did determine inaccurate expense reports, made an appearance at Oracle’s OpenWorld conference to announce the Exadata Database Machine X2-8.
Steering clear of all controversy involving Hewlett Packard and Hurd, the newly appointed co-President of Oracle unveiled Oracle’s new line of Exadata database and storage machines which feature expanded storage capacity, improved security, and higher speed information retrieval.
This latest technology from Oracle is directly related to Oracle’s strategy to win business away from Hewlett Packard and IBM Corp. The move was largely made possible through Oracle’s acquisition of Sun Microsystems earlier this year, which positioned the company, previously seen mainly as a software company, as a major player in the hardware field.
Hurd, who is also a tennis partner and good friend of Oracle CEO Larry Ellison, is still steeped in controversy over his joining Oracle so soon after being asked to leave Hewlett Packard. Hurd is not out of the woods yet on a move that some see as a major coup by Ellison, as Hewlett Packard has filed a lawsuit to stop Hurd from working at Oracle claiming the move is a violation of an agreement signed by Hurd upon joining Hewlett Packard to keep Hewlett Packard’s trade secrets confidential.
Legal experts have weighed in that Hewlett Packard will not likely win the case as it must prove that Hurd’s knowledge is going to give Oracle an unfair competitive advantage. Ellison has referred to the case as ‘vindictive’ and it is obviously not concerned enough about it to stop him from proceeding precisely how he wishes.
About 41,000 folks from around the globe are expected to be in attendance at the technology conference at which Hurd also got to announce Oracle’s four billion dollar research and development plan.
