The problem for HP is that sentiment was already trending heavily negative for a year and more before the Autonomy debacle.
When the company assessed Autonomy before the acquisitions, the financial results appeared to pass muster.
Chanos told me this morning that in early 2011, months before the HP-Autonomy deal, Autonomy was his biggest European short.
FORBES: Links 21 Nov: HP v. Autonomy. Time To Make The Popcorn
Some of the Zapotecs, though, were proud of their heritage and practising autonomy long before the Zapatista uprising in the neighbouring state of Chiapas in 1994.
H-P said Tuesday that Autonomy, before it was acquired, had mischaracterized some sales of low-margin hardware as software and had recognized some deals with partners as revenue, even when a customer never bought the product.
That was the date of the last balance sheet Autonomy publicly disclosed before it was bought by HP in November 2011.
FORBES: Links 21 Nov: HP v. Autonomy. Time To Make The Popcorn
But before they can be granted such autonomy, their governing structures will need to become more effective and less beholden to unions.
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We have significantly reduced bureaucracy, given more autonomy to schools than ever before through our academy and free school programmes and are ensuring good teachers are better recognised through the pay system.
Sources tell me of at least two large client engagements where Autonomy and Deloitte Consulting worked together before the acquisition.
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At least one year before the H-P acquisition, an Autonomy executive brought concerns about the company's accounting practices to U.S. regulators including the SEC, according to people familiar with the matter.
Take a look at the graphs below before deciding where you stand on the HP-Autonomy row.
Never before in modern times have workers had so much autonomy over their work days.
Autonomy has never had a consumer product before, and it shows in the way the app is presented.
This renewal is centred on Erbil, the seat of the regional government which has, from well before the overthrow of Saddam, steered a delicate path towards autonomy and economic development.
Before that, there was Salesforce.com and Radian6, HP and Autonomy .
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Any English company thinking of taking over Autonomy would have gone through the books with a fine toothed comb before handing over a penny.
FORBES: HP's $8.8 Billion Loss On Autonomy: Not A Massive Surprise
Ms. Whitman said Tuesday the company relied on Autonomy's regular auditor Deloitte and had hired KPMG for an additional review before the deal closed.
Why has HP been so aggressive in its criticism of Autonomy and what should it have done differently, going back to the days before the purchase?
FORBES: How HP Could Have Saved Itself $10 Billion (And Its Share Price From Falling)
Mike Lynch, the founder of Autonomy, claims in an interview that it all started to go wrong after the acquisition, not before.
FORBES: Links 21 Nov: HP v. Autonomy. Time To Make The Popcorn
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