In a recent press release, Hewlett-Packard (HP) announced that John W. McCain will be the new chief of HP Services, the $15.5 billion dollar division of the technology giant.

The announcement comes less than two weeks after the departure of former chief Steve Smith. Smith left the company in late October to join rival Dell. (Source: channelregister.co.uk)

McCain, 47, began his time at HP in December 2005 when he signed on as the Senior Vice President of HP Consulting and Integration. Before joining HP, McCain held the position of CEO of iEnergizer, a business outsourcing services company. (Source: hp.com)

HP Technology Services Group Executive Vice President Ann Livermore, whom McCain will be reporting to, did not shy away from expressing her satisfaction with McCain's new appointment.

"John has a strong track record within the services industry and has delivered outstanding results for our consulting and integration global business unit since joining HP. John's proven leadership, passion for customers and deep understanding of our services strategy make him the right person to lead HP Services." (Source: hp.com)

McCain has wasted no time in announcing his planned improvements to the Services division. In an effort to keep up with offshore competitors, McCain plans to set up a sales force team to sell U.S. customers on the benefits of outsourcing work to HP's technology centers in India. He also mentioned the possibility of setting up a similar team to promote HP's offshore services in the United Kingdom. (Source: informationweek.com)

Despite the concentration on increasing offshore sales, McCain maintained that HP will not significantly increase operating capacity in India anytime soon.

"Our footprint in India is pretty good. I'm satisfied with our facilities there," he stated. However, he continued to stress that sales in these locations need to rise: "the Indian firms are growing by leaps and bounds; we want a bigger piece of that." (Source: informationweek.com)

McCain's appointment as HP Services Chief comes as a nice distraction from the legal woes the company has recently been experiencing. Finally, news on HP that isn't about spying campaigns or wire taps.