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HP wants R&D to be Serious Business
March 2008
Hewlett-Packard is measuring out business suits for its research and development arm, HP Labs.
The vendor is reshaping its prestigious - yet never terribly profitable - research arm to "balance exploratory research with an entrepreneurial approach", the company announced today during a press event at its Palo Alto, California, headquarters.
It's a results-oriented shift that officially marks the reign of HP Lab's new chief director Prith Banerjee, who arrived six months ago.
Research and development will now be devoted to only about 20 to 30 "big bets" the company feels confident will deliver revenue in a timely fashion.
That means carving a lot of "fat" off the bone at HP Labs, although the firm won't say which projects are in for it. "We're in the middle of that decision-making process right now," Banerjee said. But the company wants to emphasise it's about boosting productivity and not culling its staff.
"This is not a cost cutting exercise," said Shane Robison, HP chief technology officer. In fact, both men claim the change will mean more funding towards research.
The company will focus new projects on technology du jour (et tomorrow?). Research based on web-hosted applications, data management, converting media between digital and analog, and green technology will get heads nodding in the board room, HP assures.