Network World, 01/04/99

ECKHARD PFEIFFER CEO, COMPAQ

Eckhard Pfeiffer is becoming a fixture on our Top 25 list. And with good reason: Compaq is becoming a fixture in networking.

Nevermind that Pfeiffer already has turned Compaq into a leading supplier of servers to most enterprises. He is now on a mission to provide the plumbing that connects those servers together and to distributed desktops.

Pfeiffer's moves are causing the traditional internetworking leaders - Bay, Cabletron, Cisco and 3Com - to sit up and take notice. Because of its sales model and distribution channels, Compaq, along with Intel, is a company that can drive the price of network gear down, pruning the traditional players' fat margins.

Pfeiffer realizes that users no longer buy boxes - they buy systems. That belief led him to gamble on the costly Digital acquisition, and he's brought back a lot of the old Digital networking cronies - such as B.J. Johnson - to execute on his vision. Compaq now also owns Digital's vaunted service organization, a key asset that traditional network companies just can't match.

That's a powerful message, and one that could propel Pfeiffer to the ranks of Gates and Chambers as perennial shoo-ins for the Top 25 list.

PFEIFFER'S CHALLENGE: Execution. Pfeiffer must ensure that Compaq doesn't hiccup while digesting Digital or it could be a long, languid sales cycle for Compaq net gear.

Prior: Nacchio

Next: Roth