“I accept the position of interim CEO with the clear goal to move the company forward in executing HP’s strategy for profitable growth. We have strong market momentum and our ability to execute is irrefutable as demonstrated by our Q3 preliminary results,” she said.

Hurd’s decision to quit was made following an investigation by outside legal counsel and the General Counsel’s Office, overseen by the Board, of the facts and circumstances surrounding a claim of sexual harassment against Hurd and HP by a former contractor to HP.

The investigation determined there was no violation of HP’s sexual harassment policy, but it did find violations of HP’s Standards of Business Conduct.

A Search Committee of the Board of Directors has been created, consisting of Marc L. Andreessen, Lawrence T. Babbio, Jr., John H. Hammergren, and Joel Z. Hyatt, which will oversee the process for the identification and selection of a new CEO and Board Chair. HP’s lead independent director, Robert Ryan, will continue in that position.

San Jose Mercury News suggests that while Hurd was numbers focused, observers say HJP's next CEO needs to have a vision and the skills to knit together all the deals that Hurd made as computing moves from the desktop to the grid and cloud.

HP preliminary 3Q 2010 results report revenues of around $30.7bn, up 11% compared with the prior-year period. For 4Q 2010, HP estimates revenue of approximately $32.5-32.7bn and for the full year in the range of $125.3-125.5bn.