BMC CEO Blasts HP Over EDS Deal

SAN FRANCISCO - The CEO of BMC Software(BMC Quote) on Thursday lambasted Hewlett-Packard's(HPQ Quote) 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 Quote).

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 Quote) 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.