HP promotes John McCain; no, not that John McCain

Hewlett-Packard announced Wednesday that it has promoted John W. McCain, senior vice president of Consulting and Integration, to the top spot of its HP Services division.

McCain, not to be confused with Senator and onetime presidential candidate John S. McCain (R-Ariz.), has been at HP since December of last year. Previously, he had served as CEO of business-processing company iEnergizer, and before that as CEO of the North American division of European consulting company Capgemini.

McCain has also held various positions at consulting giant EDS.

The head of HP Services--more formally, senior vice president and general manager--has been an open position for several weeks. McCain's predecessor, Steve Smith, stepped down on October 26, citing personal reasons. There was no clear connection between Smith's resignation and HP's now-notorious spying scandal, which precipitated the resignation of the company's chairman, Patricia Dunn, and several other top HP executives.

McCain will report to Ann Livermore, executive vice president of HP's technology solutions group. Livermore has also been acting as head of HP Services since Smith's departure.