It was only a few short weeks ago that we were writing yet again about the ongoing battle between HP and Autonomy and here we are with even more news on the subject! Now it would appear that Autonomy are hitting back with statements being made outlining that HP were fully aware of the ’real’ situation before they finally blew the whistle and lifted the lid on the reported discrepancies.
According the an investigation conducted by the Financial Times HP execs were already aware of the practices conducted by Autonomy namely that of chalking up sales to resellers even though the VAR in question had not yet secured and end user for the technology. This practice would be classified as a successful sales as the there was no way the reseller could return the unsold technology and get their money back. Whilst this might not seem an issue as you could argue that a sales make to the VAR was still a sale this type of ’deferred sales’ would affect the accounts.
According to the report made by the Financial Times Hewlett Packard were well aware of this issue and activity but in fact had discussed this method of accounting. It also goes on to claim to that the US Juggernaut was aware that Autonomy had upped is revenue by including sales of hardware. HP had / has always maintained that they knew nothing about this practice when the purchase of Autonomy was made and were duped but this – however these reports would seem to indicate otherwise!
Mike Lynch, the former Autonomy boss, has never taken this accusation by HP just lying down and these revelations will only further his stance against the industry giant. An article on the CRN website has several quotes from Mike Lynch which can be read in full at the link below however the most interesting one questions the future of Meg Whitman given the statements and quotes she has made on the subject. As Meg Whitman has been very vocal in her accusations that Autonomy had withheld all of this information when the buyout when through. If the facts from this investigation are correct then this stance represents a great deal of difference to the actual truth.
The fight will go on for a long time yet and I am sure that it will not be long before we hear about this story yet again as another report of piece of evidence comes to light!
