Five Questions Friday with Tom Salomone of Hewlett Packard

By


Tom Salomone HP Name: Tom Salomone

Title: Segment Marketing Manager

Company: Hewlett Packard

1.Why did you choose to do the work you do?

I love doing my job as a Segment Marketing Manager for HP, because I meet so many interesting people in the industry and around the world. It's the combination of the interaction with people and the technical nature of the work I do that makes my professional life rewarding. And it gives me a chance to help our customers understand hardware technology and how it relates to SolidWorks, and how to improve their own competitiveness.

2.What is your proudest career moment?

It is difficult to pinpoint just one event or moment, but I went through the merger of Digital Equipment into Compaq, and then the merger of Compaq into HP while taking on a more expanded role in Segment Marketing, and then seeing our workstation business flourish with the help of my contribution.

3.What goal inspires you most?

For me market share is key, and it is easy to measure by using external agencies such as IDC. Here I can see if we are making progress. Is our message and product advantage getting through? And in my segment role for HP I can see that HP’s market share in the engineering segment has been growing very steadily, quarter after quarter.

4.Has your partnership with SolidWorks made a difference in your business?

Wow yes, from the early days at Digital, when with my boss Aaron Holzer met with the founders before SolidWorks was even a company to provide them Alpha Workstations, until now where we have such a great relationship. Our joint businesses continue to grow, and marketing programs we do with SolidWorks help us reach more and more customers.

5.Where’s the best place you’ve traveled?

For me it is a tossup between Ireland and Australia, with the edge going to Australia. There it is similar to the US, but everything is a little riskier. In Boston we have the Duck Tours and the Harbor Cruises. In Sidney, they have the high speed motor boat cruise with passengers getting soaked by the boat spray with every turn, and the shark diving expeditions, with or without a cage, or climbing to the top of the Sidney Harbor Bridge.

Matthew West

SolidWorks alumnus. I like plate reverb, Rat pedals, Thai curry, New Weird fiction, my kids, Vespas, Jazzmasters, my wife & Raiders of the Lost Ark. Not necessarily in that order.