This is directed to Rod and anybody who buys his comments re: Borland's tools:
OK, I've stayed out of this argument long enough. I am no longer an employee of Borland. I have passed the 90 day mark so I can speak my mind. And no, I did not get laid off. I left to start my own consulting practice.
I have been a developer for 12 years and have used a multitude of development tools. I was the architect of a major successful shrink-wrap product, ACT!, before going to Borland in 1991. I suffered through release after frustrating release of Microsoft tools. Borland built a small empire by eating Microsoft's lunch in the developer tools market. No, Borland's documentation is not as good, NOW. And MS has a 14 billion dollar organization with which it can bludgeon anybody who dares to challenge its market dominance on any front.
That said, I must admit to being a subscriber to MSDN Universal ($2,000.00 investement). BTW, so is Borland. Microsoft has made up a lot of ground and Borland has lost some ground. I have been tremedously impressed with the nimble transition MS has made into the Internet market.
Still, Borland has demonstrated some real grit in extraordinarily trying circumstances. Delphi is light years ahead of VB and the upcoming C++ product will trump Visual C++, at least for a while. The jury is still out on the Java product but the Delphi-like front end should put it out front also.
Yes, a company can make it on development tools. That's how Borland started out -- just a Pascal compiler that made MS BASIC look like a sick joke. With the success of its Pascal compiler Borland bought Ansa and Surpass and built its database and spreadsheet business.
Borland's biggest problems are now, and really always have been, getting the message out. I'm disturbed by news of more layoffs. The sales force is its smallest in at least 6 years. Each person is already having to do what three or four people used to do. And it's true that some of the most talented people are leaving. Borland is in a very dangerous spot right now but it's not because its tools are inferior.
The new CEO has got to avoid taking the path of least resistance and simply cutting the highest costs, human resources. He is going to have to look at packaging, for instance. As another person posted, shipping three boxes of 5 Interbase licenses each makes much less sense than simply including a piece of paper in 1 box stating that they have 15 licenses. To really turn it around will require actually spending more money on some highly talented and creative people who know how to communicate effectively with their target market. They need an image maker!
Randy Haben
President, Reusable Objects, Inc.
formerly Sr. Systems Engineer, Borland |
