An old friend of mine wrote this article and wanted a good sized soap box to share it from. Then he had second thoughts about taking credit for it. The article is accurate, but might induce flame wars among the zealots, so I can understand the hesitation. I present this as an accurate but anonymous post. Feel free to express your opinion.
Borland has recently taken an interesting step in that they are now going to play a leadership role in the Eclipse community and platform. I say "interesting" because the words "bold" or "surprising" aren't appropriate. Also because saying "reactionary" and "foolhardy" are probably too insulting (tho potentially more accurate).
In a recent interview, Borland's Raaj Shinde, a VP in the Together Business unit has stated that; "the Borland SDO [Software Delivery Optimization] solution is going to be built on two primary platforms. One is Eclipse, the other is Visual Studio." And he's also said that; "We will continue to add value to [JBuilder]," he stated. "We believe the framework we build on top of is really irrelevant, it’s the feature set, the functionality and the value that people want out of JBuilder, and we will continue to provide that."
Shortly after this interview, John Kaster posted a FAQ article to the Borland Developer Network that essentially backpedals over what Shinde said. John includes the question that is almost on everyone's mind; "Q: Will Borland continue to support its JBuilder IDE?" to which he fervently answers; "Absolutely!" However he doesn't answer the real question:
"Will Borland support JBuilder on it's IDE, or on the Eclipse Platform?"Both articles share a common thread of throwing around the buzz-term ALM (Application Lifecycle Management). They both say how they're positioning themselves to be a driving force behind ALM. What they don't say is whether or not they are going to be a tools company. Borland - from an outside perspective - appears to be trying to become another Computer Associates. The last time they tried this, they took on the name Inprise. And it almost bankrupted the company. Borland needs to pick a focus - and stick with it. Borland is known as being a top-notch tools vendor. This move toward Eclipse and ALM smacks of reactionism and desperation. Apparently Wall Street agrees. On a warning of lowered income expectations Borland's stock is now down below 7.50 a share. Let's hope this isn't Borland's Swan Song.
I agree that Borland is really lacking focus. I used to work for Micron PC (now Interland or MPC) which had the same problem. They would roll out an incredible new offering, but then never really market it. They would change their marketing message every few months. They started as a top rate PC company, then started buying hosting companies and ISP's. Then they sold off the incredibly profitable SpecTek division and finally sold off the PC division (which became MPC) changing their name to Interland, which is just a run of the mill hosting company.
Interestingly, when the PC division refocused on building and selling personal computers it regained profitability. It has remained profitable ever since, even during quarters when every other PC company was loosing money. If instead of going through the identity crisis they just focused on their core competency - building good PC's - then they wouldn't have lost all that money or laid off all those employes.
I certainly hope Borland gain's its focus before they loose their way again. They should focus on what they do that works. If the industry recognizes them as a leader in development tools, which they do, then that is what they should focus on. They have good tools, now if only they would market them.
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