Her departure, Ptak said, has the potential to be "disruptive to HP's software operations, unless HP has somebody to fill the position quickly." He said Denzel was effective as a top manager but "still was never able to clear up HP's messaging about software." He said that HP has shown more of a tendency to sell software products rather than ways for businesses to solve problems -- something IBM, BMC and CA have done.

HP CEO Mark Hurd and DeLaughter have both tried to reassure customers that HP remains committed to developing new systems management software and that HP has no plans to sell off its software unit.