Meg Whitman defends HP, dings Microsoft Surface and Cisco

HP CEO Meg Whitman on Wednesday moved to allay fears of enterprise technology buyers, ensure the company will be around for the long-haul, stick with the services business, develop groundbreaking hardware and invest in innovation.

In other words, Whitman had a tough to-do list and had to counter some FUD laid by Cisco CEO John Chambers on Tuesday. "I want to instill in you confidence that HP will be here for the long term and that we will lead," said Whitman.

The CIOs at Gartner Symposium have a lot invested in HP. HP's troubles become tech leader headaches.