HP's transitional phase continues — less than six months after being named as HP's chief strategy officer, Bill Veghte has been appointed to the newly-created Chief Operating Officer role. Veghte will keep his strategy role, but he was also previously HP's executive VP in charge of software, a role that will now be filled by George Kadifa. Kadifa previously worked at global technology investment firm Silver Lake, with the somewhat-nebulously named "value creation team." Both Veghte and Kadifa will work directly with HP CEO Meg Whitman as the company looks to rebound after a tough quarter and a forthcoming major round of layoffs. Whitman said that Veghte "has done an excellent job delivering strong results in HP Software, and more recently helping us focus our efforts in the execution of our strategy," and noted that Kadifa's "ability to manage multiple business models will prove extremely valuable to HP as we extend our software offerings in cloud, information and security." Both appointments are effective immediately.