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Robert (Bob) V. Napier was born December 18, 1946. He passed away on October 13, 2003 after a courageous battle with cancer. As Executive Vice President & CIO of the Hewlett-Packard Company, Bob was responsible for HP's Information Technology (IT) systems worldwide. Bob viewed his position as CIO in a different light. He saw the role as a true business partner in helping to design and deliver HP strategy. He also understood that IT at HP provided critical proof-points for customers making significant IT decisions. |
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Underlying Bob's approach to IT was always how to get the best return on investment. He would say that, "It's about standard blocking and tackling. It's about planning, executing, measuring, and adjusting. It's about making sure you have attention to detail along with the relentless implementation of core disciplines."
One of Bob's most famous quotes was "...every business decision generates an IT event." Never was this more true than when HP announced the merger with Compaq, the largest in high-tech history. This decision prompted a staggeringly large number of IT events. The scale of what the IT teams would face was daunting: 232,632 user accounts, 229,000 mailboxes, 220,000 desktops, 21,671 servers and 1,193 web sites. Bob led the strategy and teams to ensure that not only on 'day one' were key business critical systems and web sites joined, but also that a well defined integration strategy, program management and governance model were in place. This feat was a tremendous success for the company, and specifically for HP's IT organization. Bob summarized his team's successful approach by saying, "There are a couple of things that go into doing [things] well. First of all, you've got to sense what you've got. You've got to look at the organization, understand the state of the culture. You need to get the foundation pieces right first. If you get the infrastructure right, all things are possible."
Bob had the unique ability to be a visionary and still be able to drive execution. At Compaq, reporting to the Chairman, Bob had the responsibility for driving the company's transformation to eBusiness while improving and expanding eCommerce activities. Significant progress was made in a very short time. Under the mantra of "if you can't measure it, you can't manage it," Bob brought the practice of analytics to the company in order to better measure, manage and improve eBusiness efforts. The industry took note quickly and the IT group received industry recognition and a number of awards.
Bob would tell you that one of his biggest influences in his 35 year career was the time he spent in the Navy aboard the George Bancroft, a nuclear submarine. It was there where he learned the value of teamwork, flexibility, being able do another's job if required and of understanding and managing complex, "mission-oriented" systems. He would also say that this experience taught him the value of team-building, collaboration and truly knowing the people on his team. Bob always managed in this manner, and built a strong, cohesive world class IT team. He was known for his directness and for speaking his mind. HP's Chairman and CEO, Carly Fiorina said, "He could be a curmudgeon. He could break a lot of glass, but CIOs sometimes need to break a lot of glass. He was passionately committed to his team, to the mission he was on, and he had a huge heart for the people who worked with him and for him."
Prior to working with HP and Compaq, Bob held a number of CIO positions in global organizations. He was Senior Vice President and CIO for Mariner Health, CIO of Delphi Automotive Systems and CIO of global infrastructure at Lucent Technologies, where he first met Carly Fiorina. At Lucent, he was responsible for the planning and implementation of the company's new infrastructure. He was also CIO at AT&T Global Business Communications Systems and CIO of Lockheed Information Management Services.
Bob was a cum laude graduate of Iona College and completed executive management programs at New York University, New York Institute of Technology and Stanford University. Bob began his technology career while serving in the United States Navy Submarine Service.
Bob will be remembered by those he touched professionally and personally for his dedication to his family and his work, focus on excellence, candor, compassion and sense of humor.
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