Former Autonomy CEO Mike Lynch in May.

As of Sept. 17, Youngjohns will serve as senior vice president and general manager of the Autonomy/Information Management business unit, and report to George Kadifa, executive vice president of HP Software, according to a statement. Youngjohns has served as president of Microsoft's North America region, and has also worked at Callidus Software, Sun Microsystems and IBM.

Along with growing Autonomy's business, Youngjohns is tasked with helping HP integrate Autonomy into the main software division, HP added.

HP, beset by tough competition in its server and PC businesses, is looking to enterprise software with its high-profit margins and steady maintenance revenue as a way to boost the balance sheet.

It under the leadership of former CEO Leo Apotheker, an ex-SAP CEO who after a brief and tumultuous run. The more than US$10 billion price HP paid for Autonomy has been widely criticized as far too steep.