As part of the probe, the SEC is looking into claims that Mr. Hurd passed information about H-P’s then-pending $13.9 billion acquisition of technology-consulting company Electronic Data Systems Corp. to a former contractor in 2008 before the deal was announced, the people familiar with the matter said.

In addition, the SEC is examining inaccurate expense reports filed by Mr. Hurd when he was with H-P, some of these people said. The probe is also examining whether Mr. Hurd destroyed computer evidence related to his August departure from H-P, they said.

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The company, which consumers know primarily for its printers, says it is seeking to recast itself as a broader technology concern with a campaign featuring, among others, rapper Dr. Dre and stand-up comedian Rhys Darby, star of the HBO series “Flight of the Conchords.” A person familiar with the matter estimated that the eight-week campaign will cost $40 million.

“Most people think we are just a printer company,” says Michael Mendenhall, H-P’s chief marketing officer.

Over the past few years, however, Chief Executive Mark Hurd has tried to make H-P less dependent on printing by snapping up companies like Electronic Data Systems and network-equipment maker 3Com. Its new businesses have put the company squarely in the cross hairs of rivals like Cisco Systems (CSCO) and International Business Machines (IBM).

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Software giant Oracle (ORCL), however, is expanding into hardware, and has no interest in buying a services company, said Chief Executive Larry Ellison at an event for financial analysts on Thursday.

“We are really brilliant or we’re idiots,” Ellison said of his company’s $7.4 billion acquisition of Sun Microsystems (JAVA), a deal that is currently being held up by European antitrust regulators.

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Of course, the layoffs at Hewlett-Packard (HPQ) were expected, part of its cost-cutting integration after the $13.25 billion acquisition of Electronic Data Systems.

HP said yesterday that the 24,600 jobs the tech giant axed, or 7.5 percent of the total work force, were made to “streamline the combined company’s services” businesses.

But BoomTown has to wonder if other big tech and Internet companies might not be looking at HP’s move and the current economic mess and wonder if it might be a good time to pare down a bit, after a spate of overhiring.

In fact, the ill winds that will surely be blowing west from Wall Street remind me of the classic lines of noir crime novelist Raymond Chandler:

There was a desert wind blowing that night. It was one of those hot dry Santa Anas that come down through the mountain passes and curl your hair and make your nerves jump and your skin itch. On nights like that every booze party ends in a fight. Meek little wives feel the edge of the carving knife and study their husbands’ necks. Anything can happen.”

Indeed, bad times, as one smart exec told me yesterday over lunch, are very good times to clean house.

And, as I wrote yesterday in post called “Dear Web 2.0: It’s Still the Economy, Stupid,” the frightening gyrations of the financial markets will surely impact Silicon Valley, as much as the culture here tries to pretend it will never be affected.

And that’s why I am guessing the sector is going to be seeing some judicious job cuts from managers in the next few months.

Yesterday, for example, our most excellent blogger contributor, Eric Savitz of Barron’s, cited a report by Wedge Parters on the online auction giant eBay. Paraphrasing the Wedge report, he noted “the company’s business is ‘deteriorating’ and that the company is readying layoffs that could affect 10 percent of the company’s 15,000 employees.”

Many think companies like Yahoo (YHOO), Microsoft (MSFT) and even Google (GOOG) must start to smartly make cuts–even if they add in other areas–to make sure that they are lean and mean in a less frothy market.

And I am also guessing start-ups, even those flush with investment cash, have to be thinking hard about spending as freely.

While you certainly can’t cut your way into growth, a little prudence is one quality Web 2.0 is probably about to learn.

Cost-cutting is one of my favorite subjects. We have quite a bit more to do.”

– HP CFO Cathie Lesjak, Sept. 10, 2008

When Hewlett-Packard (HPQ) CFO Cathie Lesjak said she was fond of cost-cutting, she wasn’t kidding. On Monday HP announced plans to cut 24,600 jobs over the next three years as it digests Electronic Data Systems, the technology services giant it acquired for nearly $14 billion this summer. The job cuts amount to about 7.5 percent of the combined company’s total workforce, and most will come from EDS, whose bloated cost structure was in need of a good trim. HP estimates $1.8 billion in annual cost savings once the three-year program is completed. “I think most of you that follow us know I am a big believer that having the most efficient cost structure directly relates to your ability to scale and grow,” HP CEO Mark Hurd explained to securities analysts.

Incidentally, 24,600 sacked employees is a new record for Mark Hurd, whose first big act as HP’s CEO was a restructuring that eliminated some 15,000 jobs.

[Image credit: jischinger]

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