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发信人: Bob (Dinosaur), 信区: CompExpress
标题: Why No One Talks About Borland Anymore
发信站: BBS 水木清华站 (Sat May 2 06:27:41 1998)

Jesse Berst, Editorial Director
ZDNet AnchorDesk

It has been almost a decade since the oil tanker Exxon Valdez hit the
rocks off the coast of Alaska, prompting the biggest oil spill in
American history. After the disaster, Exxon refurbished the ship. Then
relaunched it.

Under a new name.

Borland is trying to distract us from its own shipwreck the same way.

The company was once a powerhouse, the maker of the popular database
programs dBASE and Paradox (now licensed to Corel), the client/server
tool Delphi, the Borland C++ programming language, and the spreadsheet
QuattroPro.

But the company hit the rocks in 1996 after unsuccessful attempt to
compete with Microsoft in the productivity market. As Borland
hemorrhaged money, its name became synonymous with uncertainty and
squandered opportunity.

Now, in an attempt to dump the unflattering baggage -- and demonstrate
a new focus on the enterprise -- Borland plans to change its name to
Inprise. Click for full story. (Inprise will continue to sell software
development tools under the Borland name.)

Don't be fooled. A new name will not erase the myriad strategic sins
for which Borland must continue to pay. Blunders that have beget:

1. Concerns about stability. When it comes to enterprise software,
corporate buyers demand a strong, solid partner. If you think rats
desert a sinking ship, you should see corporate buyers scramble to
ditch a shaky tools vendor.

2. Concerns about technical leadership. There has been lots of
speculation about the poor job done by ousted CEO Gary Wetzel, and
current CEO Del Yocum. Whether any of it is accurate, it is true they
were not viewed as technical visionaries. Losing their chief
technology officer to Microsoft didn抰 help. Click for full story .

3. Concerns about reputation. When Borland sued Microsoft for
"stealing" its best employees, it not only lost the suit, but it got
millions of dollars of bad publicity about how its best people were
now gone. Click for full story. See #1.

4. Concerns about focus. First Borland destroyed dBASE with dumb
moves. Then tossed Quattro overboard. Then tried to promote its
mid-range database (InterBase). Then decided it was a hard-core tools
company. Then a Java company. Now it is an enterprise company. Huh?

Does Borland's name change improve your opinion of the company? If
not, what would? Use the TalkBack button below to send me a note.
(I'll post some of the best responses beneath this column.) Then jump
over to the discussion underway in my Berst Alerts forum and talk it
over with other interested AnchorDesk readers.

While Exxon didn't succeed in erasing memory of the Exxon Valdez oil
spill, it did manage to erase the past of the culprit tanker. Which is
alive and well, working in the Mediterranean Sea under the name
"SeaRiver Mediterranean." Borland may surprise us and manage to
refloat its boat. If its old baggage doesn抰 sink it. I抎 stay near a
life-raft.

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