Stimac quits Compaq as it undergoes rejig

The company is having a radical restructure in a bid to become one ofthe top three computer players

Compaq senior VP and systems division general manager Gary Stimac has resigned at the same time as the company restructured its business units.

Compaq made no comment on why Stimac walked out. He was among its first employees.

Under the restructure, Compaq has three newly formed divisions - the enterprise computing group, the PC products group and the consumer products group - as it attempts to join the top three computer firms by the end of the century.

Server products, enterprise solutions and options, networking products, workstations and Internet products will be covered by the enterprise group, headed by John Rose.

Rose will attempt to develop a new workstation business while focusing on Compaq's server business. He will also further develop Internet and intranet-based solutions for distributed enterprises.

Desktop PCs, portable PCs, PC options, small and medium-sized business solutions and communication products will be handled by the PC products group under senior VP and group general manager Michael Winkler. His division will consolidate Compaq's PC business and build a Compaq communications business. The consumer products group will exploit the home PC market and will be run by Michael Heil.

Compaq UK marketing director William Knocker said: 'These changes will allow Compaq to be much more customer focused, rather than product focused, as it has tended to be in the past.'

Toshiba UK product marketing manager Murray McKerlie responded to the move. 'There is always the risk that left hand won't know what the right hand's doing.'