HP exec to lead EDS Australia

update One of HP's executives has been appointed to lead the Australia and New Zealand division of its new subsidiary, IT outsourcing giant EDS, with the group's acting managing director Neil Emerson being shunted aside in the process.

David Caspari
(Credit: EDS)

Emerson, who has led EDS's local operations since May this year, would return to his role of vice president of application services for Asia-Pacific and Japan, EDS said in a statement today, with HP executive David Caspari to replace him permanently as vice president of EDS Australia and New Zealand.

Caspari, a Harvard Business School graduate, is currently vice president of sales in HP's technology solutions group for the Asia-Pacific and Japan region, a position he has held for two years. He will take EDS's local reins on 1 November.

Previous to that he held a number of senior roles with technology giants in the Asia-Pacific region, including a stint as vice president of Cisco India and spots with Nortel, Alcatel-Lucent and Bay Networks. Caspari is an Australian citizen based in Sydney. The executive also has a degree in electrical engineering from the University of New South Wales.

An EDS spokesperson told ZDNet.com.au that Caspari would report directly to Michael Coomer, EDS's senior vice president of the Asia-Pacific and Japan region, who in turn reports directly to EDS's global chief executive Ron Rittenmeyer.

The chain of command means there is no direct link between EDS's and HP's Australian operations, despite the fact that EDS is now formally a subsidiary of HP and has started working with the parent company in Australia to some extent to assist with certain corporate customers.

Hewlett-Packard has notified the nation's financial regulator recently that EDS Australia managing director Neil Emerson and several of his colleagues are no longer — on paper — leading the IT outsourcer's local operations.

Replacing the trio are HP's local managing director and vice president of its Asia-Pacific region, Paul Brandling, as well as Anne La Fontaine, HP's finance director for the Asia region, and Ian Watts, whose position at HP is unclear.

The EDS spokesperson said the company did not have any further news to announce in terms of further integration between the pair, or any further restructuring locally.

The news comes as EDS just last week confirmed it would cut 75 Australian staff as part of the integration process associated with its acquisition by HP. Globally the pair are planning to reduce their combined workforce by about 24,600, or 7.5 per cent.