Here's another article on the split:
Two Heads Better Than One For Informix
In a bold attempt to re-establish itself in the database market, Informix Corp. has been divided in two. Informix has, in fact, returned to its roots as a software vendor by spinning off its E-business unit into an as-yet-unnamed company.
Jim Foy, who had been senior VP of Informix's database unit, becomes president of Informix Software, while Peter Fiore, who was senior VP of the E-business software unit, will serve as president of the new company. Both Foy and Fiore joined Informix when the company acquired Ardent Software in March. Foy says he expects the two companies to be operatingindependently by Oct. 1, and for the new company to be named by year's end.
According to Foy, work on the company's database products was diluted by efforts to build E-business software. Informix Software, he says, will focus on a world-class E-business server capable of running applications from multiple vendors. "We'll be a lot more successful," Foy says.
The two companies will trade separately on the Nasdaq exchange. Foy says Informix Software will employ about 2,300 people, with revenue of nearly $800 million for the year ending Dec. 31. The new E-business company, he says, will employ about 1,100 and should report at least $120 million in revenue during 2000.
Gartner Group VP Betsy Burton says the split shows that the company's new management can be decisive, and it demonstrates a commitment to database products. The big question, Burton says, is whether the move comes too late. "If Informix had done this two years ago, the company would be in much better shape."
-- Tony Kontzer
informationweek.com |
