Autonomy and HP: That Was Fast

November 20, 2012

I like to point out that making money via search and content processing is a challenge. Not long ago, an investment bank’s 30 somethings told me, “We can figure this search stuff out.”

Don’t hold your breath.

I just learned that HP is not too happy with Autonomy’s accounting or business model. Hmmm. Isn’t the time to be unhappy before one writes a check for $10 billion? Call me old fashioned, but caveat emptor.

Navigate to “HP Takes $8.8B Charge on Autonomy ‘Improprieties’”. The write up asserts:

Hewlett-Packard took a massive charge related to its purchase of Autonomy and indicated that it bought the company based pumped-up and fraudulent accounting. In its fourth-quarter earnings report, HP recorded a charge of $8.8 billion in its software unit.

When I read this, I thought of the old chestnut attributed to either a cartoon character or a baseball professional, “It’s deja vu all over again.”

Interesting.

I never buy printer ink unless I check first. I assume the same prudence might apply to buying a search and content processing vendor.

Is there fix? Yep, the goose floats quietly in the pond awaiting the call.

Stephen E Arnold, November 20, 2012

Comments

5 Responses to “Autonomy and HP: That Was Fast”

  1. ttuncut on November 20th, 2012 10:03 am

    RT @BeyondSearch: Interesting repeat of another search deal. Autonomy and HP: That Was Fast: http://t.co/l0nNTFU9 #search

  2. mvs5000 on November 20th, 2012 11:06 am

    RT @BeyondSearch: Interesting repeat of another search deal. Autonomy and HP: That Was Fast: http://t.co/l0nNTFU9 #search

  3. olegshilovitsky on November 20th, 2012 3:44 pm

    RT @BeyondSearch: Interesting repeat of another search deal. Autonomy and HP: That Was Fast: http://t.co/l0nNTFU9 #search

  4. FMJohnson on November 20th, 2012 6:04 pm

    No one at Real Story Group (formerly CMSWatch) appears to be low-road enough to post this, so I will:

    Autonomy: A Real Success. CMSWatch: Maybe Another Real Miss?

    http://arnoldit.com/wordpress/2010/07/12/autonomy-a-real-success-cmswatch-a-real-miss/

  5. twitter_Cucuronaise on November 25th, 2012 6:13 am

    Hello Stephen, long time….

    I seem to recall that you and I spent tinme here and there wondering what Autonomy actually did. I am a little surprised at the mildness of your comments….

  • Archives

  • Recent Posts

  • Meta