Hurd, 48, steps in to replace Carly Fiorina, the six-year veteran ousted by HP’s board last month over financial performance issues. He will take up his new duties on April 1 and will join HP’s board, the company said.

Patricia Dunn, HP’s non-executive chairman, said Hurd - who has served in various positions at NCR for 25 years - was chosen because of his track record there, as well as his strong executive and personal qualities.

“Mark came to our attention because of his strong execution skills, his proven ability to lead top performing teams and his track record in driving shareholder value,” she said in a statement. “He demonstrated these skills by turning around NCR. ... We were impressed by his emphasis on developing internal talent while reaching outside for new skills, his understanding of the role of culture in a company’s success and his personal integrity.”

Said Hurd: “HP is one of the world’s great companies, with a proud history of innovation, outstanding talent and enviable positions in many of its product lines and services. It’s a great honor to join its leadership team and have the opportunity to build on its success.”

Hurd comes from a company that makes automated teller machines and retail systems, as well as data warehousing technology.
Devin York, director of financial systems at Continental Airlines Inc. in Houston, said he hopes the move means HP will continue to innovate. Continental uses HP’s OpenView Storage Data Protector backup software and has a storage-area network with about 20TB of capacity on two HP StorageWorks XP512 arrays. York also operates a large data warehouse from the Teradata division of NCR.

“I was happy with the old (CEO),” said York, who also uses NCR’s Teradata warehouse technology. “As long as they keep innovating, we’ll be happy customers.”

Hurd has a reputation for making tough decisions, according to analysts. For users, more immediate concerns may involve product road maps, particularly on retiring products.