Hewlett Packard took the unusual step of chiding one of its most senior executives yesterday, following his suggestion that HP would spin off its middleware products.

Peter Blackmore, executive VP of HP's enterprise systems group - which encompasses servers, storage and software - told analysts at Tuesday's financial conference that it planned to "retire" its software products, InfoWorld reports. He didn't go into specifics. Comments by Carly herself seem to support his view.

While SRCAM has spoken effusively about the potential for OpenView, the fate of Bluestone is less clear. When asked specifically what roadmap HP has for the app server at a press and analyst Q&A, CEO Carly Fiorina pointedly filed her nails for several seconds, while No.2 Mike Capellas took out what appeared to be a games console and silently completed a game of Tetris.

(Not really, but the detailed product roadmap doesn't give Bluestone any specific commitments).

And "premature" doesn't mean that the information is wrong, only that it's been revealed too early.

HP's software portfolio is very highly regarded, and in Chai and eSpeak - two you don't hear so much about - it has a couple of crown jewels. On HP's products and services directory , software sits at the bottom of the page, beneath calculators, and "options supplies and accessories", ie cables and backpacks.

Bluestone, which has been in HP's hands for less than two years, is sure to find a buyer.

The InfoWorld story can be found here. Warning: page … contains … demented … repeat- hyperlinks. CNET's follow-up is here.®

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