BMC CEO Blasts HP Over EDS Deal

SAN FRANCISCO - The CEO of BMC Software(BMC) on Thursday lambasted Hewlett-Packard's(HPQ) buyout of a major software and hardware integrator, announced this week.

Rather than making nice with his prospective new client, BMC CEO Robert Beauchamp said during the company's fourth-quarter earnings conference call that H-P has "declared war" on the ecosystem of data-system suppliers and integrators by moving to acquire Electronic Data Systems(EDS).

With a market cap of $7 billion, business-software supplier BMC posted annual revenue of $1.73 billion for the year just ended.

"In last 24 hours, [I] have spoken with very senior executives for the largest tech companies in the world who view" H-P's buyout of the consultant and systems integrator as a move toward becoming "a more hostile, less friendly partner," as H-P creates a mirror image of IBM's(IBM) business model, Beauchamp said.

The acquisition poses competitive threats to many EDS hardware and software suppliers, as well as other integrators who have not previously viewed H-P as a competitor.

EDS has historically been a good customer of BMC, which sells software tools for mainframe computers, Beauchamp said. "They'll need to maintain that relationship with us or go to IBM. We'll do a good job of being a provider of mainframe tools" to EDS going forward, he added.

Houston, Texas-based BMC reported revenue of $466.9 million, up 11.3% from $419.4 million for the same quarter of last year. Analysts were expecting a top line of $460.3 million, according to Thomson Reuters.

Net income jumped 54.5% to $97 million, or 50 cents a share, vs. $62.8 million, or 30 cents a share, in the prior year.