The outsourcing deal that Hewlett-Packard just lost -- to take over IT operations for Deutsche Post -- warrants the diaper award (Huggies or Depends, you choose). Suffice to say, HP's entree into the Big Leagues of Outsourcing just ran down the proverbial side of its leg.

I'm being a bit harsh on this one because business-process outsourcing is close to my heart and in my DNA. I think BPO is the biggest and brightest technology trend far into the future, and this deal would have set off a wave of huge deals. In fact, this alone would have put so much light on HP, and created so much momentum for the vendor, that HP would fast be the world leader. Now HP is just another player, even with the EDS acquisition, and somewhat marginalized for the foreseeable future because of the visibility of this deal.

After all the time spent on jockeying back and forth and getting terms done for a mega deal like this, you’d think HP would be able to scrape enough chips up from its coffers to make the savings so attractive that Deutsche Post had to do the deal. Lack of vision? Lack of foresight? You better believe it. The profit from this deal could have easily been marginal or the deal could be a loss leader. By doing so, HP would get first look at so many more deals it would be ridiculous. Now it's stuck right back in the quarterly earnings and bottom-line thinking thrust upon companies by Wall Street that's destroying innovation in our economy.

Let’s be honest: HP management is to blame here but probably won’t be held accountable, as they will justify themselves by the numbers. When are we going to hold these people accountable for the future and the obvious loss of future revenue, positioning, and marketplace leadership as a result of non-innovative thinking? Regardless, huge salaries and bonuses will still be paid and the team that lost this deal will probably still be employed.

The one benefit from this debacle is that HP just lifted other industry leaders like Capgemini to new heights and shed light on BPO in general. The problem is, if Deutsche Post can do it internally, that "we can, too" mentality will pervade IT shops across the world, leaving the inmates running the asylum. A blow to HP and the industry is an outcome I'm not fond of, and the only thing I feel should be done is to have the HP team and its leaders sold into bondage or at least publically relieved of duty.

Bill Glynn is managing director of Collective IQ (www.collectiveiq.com).
He's also the author of Left On Red: How to Ignite, Leverage and Build Visionary Organization.