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SCMP Reporter

Speculation on who would be chief of the new Hewlett-Packard in Hong Kong was rife in the lead-up to the launch of the company's merger with Compaq Computers.

Whoever was appointed as general manager would have full rein of the largest information technology vendor in the special administrative region (SAR) after IBM. He or she would also be supported by HP operations in 160 countries and territories on five continents.

The new HP led the global market in sales of imaging and printing technologies, personal computers, servers, enterprise storage systems and management software. It was also No 3 in information technology services, a field where rival IBM has a strong lead.

Despite these advantages, many challenges lay ahead for HP Hong Kong's new chief. These included completing a corporate restructuring, assuaging the concerns of staff and customers about the transition and boosting sales during a period of reduced IT spending.

Few were surprised when Peter Yeung Si-ngai was appointed to the position and formally announced the HP-Compaq merger at the Hong Kong launch last May.

Mr Yeung, previously the managing director at Compaq Hong Kong, vowed to make the new HP the SAR's 'undisputed information technology leader'.

He said HP was ready to 'go after all the other players' -  its main competitors in a number of IT market segments. He singled out the computer storage systems maker EMC and IBM's Global Services unit, saying these rivals 'better watch out'.

Such fighting words might have sounded an idle boast had they been uttered by a less experienced IT executive. From Mr Yeung, they underscored a confidence built on years of experience.

A bachelor in his mid-40s, Mr Yeung scored a hat-trick with his appointment to HP. It is his third appointment to a top executive position in a major multinational IT company in the SAR.

The first was his appointment as general manager at Digital Equipment Corp. He held the position for 13 years, until the company was acquired by Compaq in 1998. Following that merger, he was chosen to head the new Compaq over the company's previous chief of Hong Kong operations.

His responsibilities at Compaq included overseeing sales and marketing, all product and services business units, technical support, customer relationship management, finance and all support functions.

He will retain many of these duties as head of the larger HP organisation in Hong Kong and lead executive of its enterprise systems group. The other HP units comprise imaging and printing, services and personal systems.

The enterprise systems group handles some of HP's most profitable market segments. These include server computers, storage systems and management software that powers telecommunications companies, financial services institutions and other large businesses.

It is familiar terrain for Mr Yeung, who is credited with leading Compaq in landing and supporting hefty enterprise systems deals with organisations and companies including the Hong Kong Jockey Club, CLP Power, Hutchison Group, the SAR government's electronic delivery service project and the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong, which is now part of Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing(HKEx).

'I deal with a lot of IT vendors in my job and Peter Yeung has always stood out as someone who is very knowledgeable on our many requirements,' HKEx head of IT Stephen Law has said.

Mr Yeung has more than 20 years' experience in the IT industry, having also worked in sales positions with Burroughs and ICL Computers.

He is a graduate of the University of Hong Kong, where he obtained a bachelor's degree in social sciences.

University mates who have become prominent executives in key industries included Agnes Nardi, the managing director of Hutchison Telecom, and Alfred Wong, senior vice-president at HKEx.

Kitty Fok, an associate research director at the research firm International Data Corp (IDC), said Mr Yeung's appointment as HP general manager in the SAR took few by surprise because of his 'extensive experience handling blue-chip information technology accounts in Hong Kong'.

'These large enterprises require a stable, confident relationship with their IT supplier,' she said.

Mr Yeung said recently the huge resources of the new HP had helped open doors as many organisations preferred to get all their IT requirements from a single source.

'Most of the competition has, really, been between HP and IBM,' he said.

He has a less hectic travel schedule than he did at Digital as his focus this time is on serving the Hong Kong and Macau markets. This focus has yielded results that are expected to beef up his credentials in the local IT industry.

According to IDC, HP was the leading IT services vendor in Hong Kong last year, cornering 23 per cent of the market, compared with IBM's 17 per cent share. It continued to lead local sales of servers with a 32 per cent market share, and storage systems sales with a 38 per cent share.

Crowning Mr Yeung's HP achievements last year were contracts clinched in June in all four categories of the Information Technology Professional Services Arrangement, the Hong Kong government's most comprehensive IT outsourcing services tender. HP has delivered more than 270 IT projects to the government in the past 12 years.

More importantly for Mr Yeung, he has managed to keep job cuts low and staff morale high in a tough economic environment.

About 15,000 of the 145,000 employees worldwide at Silicon Valley-based HP are to be laid off over two years. HP Hong Kong has nearly 1,000 staff, compared with 900 last May.

Mr Yeung said 'eight months and millions of hours of integration planning here and around the world' before the merger had paid off, with a lean team in the SAR focused on the job at hand.

'These are the best of times for me,' he said.

STEPPING UP

Peter Yeung was general manager of Digital Equipment Corp for 13 years until its merger in 1998 with Compaq

After the merger, he was chosen to head Compaq's Hong Kong operations

He was appointed general manager of HP in Hong Kong after its merger with Compaq



HP chief on course to conquer Hong Kong