10 Most Influential CEOs of 2009
 

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Who were the men who ruled the technology landscape in 2009? CRN has released a list of 25 Most Influential Executives of 2009. The men who according to it changed the computing landscape with aggressive channel sales expansions, blockbuster acquisitions, breakthrough cloud computing initiatives and strong sales in the midst of the biggest downturn in the economy since the Great Depression.

Mark Hurd, Chairman, CEO and President, Hewlett-Packard
 

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In 2009 HP displaced IBM at the top of the computer product and services sales pyramid under Mark Hurd's leadership. Hurd is now taking direct aim at Cisco Systems' networking business with his ProCurve line and a $2.7 billion acquisition of 3Com.

Cisco in March announced its plans to integrate network devices, servers, and storage utilities into a unified, next-generation data center.

The move creates a turf war within the data center and threatens to devalue established server brands from IBM, Hewlett-Packard, and Dell. Cisco, which in the past has worked closely with server makers such as HP, will now market its own servers and its own software to manage all three unified elements of the data center.

John Chambers, Chairman and CEO, Cisco Systems
 

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Cisco's John Chambers has taken the networking giant through every major twist and turn over nearly two decades. Now the networking czar is eyeing to take a bite out of HP's sales with what its calls unified computing systems, which combine servers and networking into one box.

Chambers also aims to make Cisco a key player in the cloud computing space.

Larry Ellison, CEO, Oracle
 

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The founder and CEO of Oracle for 32 years has vanquished many competitors. Oracle may not have matched HP or IBM in posting strong sales in 2009. However, the company's acqusition of Sun seems to be a sure Winner.

Second-quarter net income rose 13 percent to $1.46 billion, or 29 cents a share, from $1.3 billion, or 25 cents, a year earlier, Oracle said. Excluding some costs, profit was 39 cents in the period, which ended November 30.

Enrique Salem, President and CEO, Symantec
 

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Few companies can match the gains Symantec made in 2009 in both sales and operations. According to CRN, If Symantec Chairman John W Thompson had the chutzpah to build a bigger Symantec, then President and CEO Enrique Salem had the management hand to pull it all together.