By Benjamin Pimentel 
   A DOW JONES COLUMN 
 

A year after he joined Hewlett-Packard Co.'s (HPQ) board of directors, Marc Andreessen finds himself playing a critical role in mapping the future of the Silicon Valley icon.

Andreessen, who joined the H-P board in September 2009, is one of four company directors tasked with looking for a new chief executive after the fall of Mark Hurd, who resigned from the company last month over allegations of sexual harassment and improper conduct.

The Palo Alto, Calif., company named director John Hammergren as chairman of the search committee, which also includes Lawrence Babbio and Joel Hyatt.

It is a strikingly unusual role for the 39-year-old Andreessen. He is best known for introducing the first popular Internet browser, who then faded away after losing a battle with Microsoft Corp. (MSFT). He later reemerged as tech visionary, and a pioneer of cloud computing.

Andreessen is not considered a contender for the H-P post, but as the highest profile technology industry figure on the company's board and its search committee, he is expected to exert some influence.

"He really understands H-P's culture and I think he personally has a vision for H-Ps direction and what they need in a leader to drive them forward," said analyst Tim Bajarin of Creative Strategies Inc. "He himself is a very strong leader and will be quite influential in helping the board decide who should lead H-P."

In fact, Andreessen emerged as a de facto spokesman for the H-P board as the company explained Hurd's abrupt departure last month. "This was a painful decision," he said in a call with analysts shortly after Hurd's resignation was announced. "But this was a necessary decision."

Analysts say Andreessen, a general partner of the venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz, also could help H-P strike a balance as it looks for a leader focused on operational discipline, but also one with a bold, strategic vision. H-P under Hurd won praise for efficient execution, but critics say the company focused too much on cost-cutting, while veering away from its tradition as an innovator.

"They can go an execution way, which was Hurd," said Gartner analyst Martin Reynolds. "They can go a vision way, which is more of Andreessen."

 
   A Diverse Background 
 

Andreessen was in his early 20s when he co-developed Mosaic, which later became Netscape Navigator, the first popular Web browser. He was also co-founder of Netscape Communications, whose highly-successful initial public offering in 1995 set the stage for the dot-com boom. He was popular then, Time magazine even featured a smiling and barefoot Andreessen on its cover with the title, "The Golden Geeks."

However, Netscape later got embroiled in a bitter showdown with software giant Microsoft in what became the first browser war. Microsoft's Internet Explorer prevailed, and Andreessen faded from the public eye.

He has since emerged "as one of Silicon Valley's more visionary CEOs," Bajarin said.

Andreessen staged a quiet comeback. In 1999, Andreessen co-founded Loudcloud, a software company that enabled businesses to automate their data centers. Michael Dortch, research director at Focus.com, a technology research group, said Andreessen, through Loudcloud, was "one of the first to talk out loud about cloud computing and software as a service."

Cloud computing allows companies to access computing power through a network instead of in-house data centers. More companies also offer business software as a Web-based service.

Loudcloud was later renamed Opsware, which was acquired by H-P in 2007 in a deal valued at $1.6 billion.

In 2005, Andreessen co-founded Ning, which allows users to set up their own social networks. That company has struggled to compete in the space that is dominated by iconic names such as Facebook. Ning reportedly laid off 40% of its staff earlier this year in a downsizing move, but still operates out of its Palo Alto offices.

"He's tried all these things," Reynolds of Gartner said. "So he has a good idea of what works and what doesn't."

 
   Trial And Error 
 

In fact, Andreessen's experiences appear to have made him valuable to companies trying to map out their cloud computing and social networking strategies. Aside from H-P, Andreessen also serves on the boards of Facebook, eBay Inc. (EBAY) and Skype.

"I've heard he has been highly valued at Facebook, which avoided a number of early Netscape mistakes; eBay, which is doing reasonably well in the face of significant competition; and Skype, which has held off Vonage and Google successfully," said analyst Rob Enderle of the Enderle Group.

Steadily, Andreessen's public persona also has dramatically evolved from his Netscape days, Enderle added. Back then, Andreessen was at times portrayed as "the next Bill Gates," but also became known for coming across as an arrogant entrepreneur.

"He was at that stage when he was convinced that he could do no wrong," Enderle said. "He had done very well, very quickly, and clearly thought that he had reached a stage of genius that was unmatched."

Enderle added, "Netscape's failure matured him a lot and, while he hasn't been anywhere near as visible, he has become far more capable. ... From a very bad start, he has become a surprisingly effective executive."

Reynolds of Gartner said Andreessen's insights into cloud computing would be particularly helpful in the search for a new H-P chief at a time when that trend is catching fire.

H-P's embrace of this trend became more pronounced recently when the company prevailed in a bidding war with rival Dell Inc. (DELL) to buy data storage company 3Par Inc. (PAR) for more than $2.3 billion.

"You want someone with the balance of vision and execution to take H-P to that cloud concept," Reynolds said. "At the moment, H-P still feels like a bunch of portfolio companies all trying to figure out how to fit together. A unifying cloud strategy could clean all that up."

 
   A Shift In Strategy? 
 

Meanwhile, the search for a new CEO has sparked worries that it could mean a shift in strategy for H-P.

This was highlighted in a recent earnings call, when an analyst noted that "quite a few investors believe the next CEO might decide to noticeably step up the pace of investment as they assume the company has systematically underinvested" in research and development.

Cathie Lesjak, H-P's chief financial officer and interim CEO, denied that the company had underinvested in R&D. In a call with reporters, she also affirmed what she called "a winning strategy," saying, "I don't see the motivation to change it."

Andreessen and H-P declined to comment for this story.

When Andreessen was named to the H-P board last year, Hurd praised him in a statement, as "a software pioneer whose leadership has helped shape the Internet" and "whose entrepreneurial background and industry expertise will be a welcome addition" to the H-P board.

That background will become even more critical, analysts say, as Andreessen joins the search for Hurd's replacement.

"There are already people using Web browsers every day who have no knowledge of how Netscape totally blew by Microsoft," Dortch said. "There are also probably cloud computing vendors who are young and clueless enough never to have heard of Loudcloud."

"Pioneers are known ... for doing things that are often superseded and overshadowed by later efforts to build upon what the pioneers did first. And so it is likely to be with Marc Andreessen."

(Benjamin Pimentel writes for Marketwatch. He can be reached at 415-439-6400 or by email at AskNewswires@dowjones.com.)

 
 
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