1,000 more IT staff for HP Asia
This should raise the total headcount in the unit to 6,500 in the region, of which over 2,000 people will be consultants, said HP Asia Pacific vice president and general manager for services Cheah Kean Huat.
Cheah also expects the number of consultants to hit 4,000 by October 2003 as part of HP's ongoing effort to boost its consulting business.
The hirings came in the wake of a cost-cutting move to lay off up to 3,000 HP management staff worldwide amidst a slowdown in the technology sector.
"We are investing heavily in IT services as it is the fastest-growing (unit) in HP," Cheah said. "Services will become the next growth engine for HP."
He was speaking at an analyst and press briefing today in conjunction with HP's regional conference entitled Service-centric solutions for the next generation.
For the financial year ended October 2000, HP's services arm contributed US$7.1 billion to the company's total revenues of US$48 billion. The company's services business grew 45 percent last year, said Cheah, who declined to provide a revenue breakdown by region.
However, he noted that the Palo Alto, California-based company is "looking at double-digit growth" for its services business worldwide this year.
HP's aggressive expansion into services was evident when it extended its three-year alliance with Accenture early May.
The partnership followed the launch of its revamped services division, HP Services, in March to venture beyond providing support for its own technology and products. Specifically, HP is looking at putting its foot in the lucrative areas of outsourcing and management consulting.
In addition, the Accenture deal came at the back of a failed attempt to acquire the consulting arm of Big Five accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC) last November. HP announced its intent to buy PWC's consulting practice for about US$18 billion in cash and stock two months earlier.
Going forward, Cheah said that HP's strategy involves partnering different services firms to target specific vertical markets--including manufacturing, retail and government--to give IBM Global Services a run for its money.
For instance, HP announced last night a partnership with PWC to target the transportation industry worldwide.