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Technology Stocks : BORL: Time to BUY! -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: TTOSBT who wrote (10357)	4/30/1998 9:36:00 AM
From: shane forbes	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 10836

Article from IBD: What's in a name? For Borland International Inc., its name long has meant a maker of desktop software packages sold in retail stores. But that hasn't been its focus for more than a year. So Borland said Wednesday that it's changing its name to Inprise Corp. to reflect its shift to enterprise, or big business, computing. Shareholders are expected to approve a switch to the stock symbol INPR at the June 5 annual meeting. Borland/Inprise also unveiled products using technology from its February acquisition of Visigenic Software Inc. And it said it's creating a new group to provide services, training and support to corporate customers. ''Borland has a legacy of being an independent development company and a retail distributor of packaged software - the $299 kind of product,'' said company Chief Executive Del Yocam. ''The new company is focused on the enterprise . . . on Internet servers that are $2,000 to $5,000, and a direct sales force. It's a different kind of company.'' The 15-year-old company was the fifth-largest maker of PC software in '91 through '93, says Jeff Tarter, publisher of the Softletter newsletter. But a disastrous price war with Microsoft Corp., late database products, a questionable move into the spreadsheet market and spending for such things as a lavish headquarters helped bring Borland to its knees. It lost more than $240 million for fiscal years '92 through '95 under former CEO and founder Philippe Kahn. The company coaxed Yocam, a former top executive with Apple Computer Inc. and Tektronix Inc., out of retirement in December '96 to save the company. Since Yocam took the reins, he's been turning the Scotts Valley, Calif., software maker toward sales to enterprise companies. These companies typically are large organizations that have thousands of employees in many locations using different computer systems. Instead of software for PCs, Borland/Inprise wants to sell products to create software for what it calls ''information networks.'' That's its term for networks of Internet applications used to link employees, customers and suppliers in business transactions such as purchasing, order processing, accounts payable and manufacturing. These applications also are called ''middleware,'' because they connect databases to software programs for end users. Middleware coordinates things such as transactions, security and directories of users. It also connects data on different types of computer systems - from mainframes to PCs. Inprise plans to offer products for building middleware applications. But it also wants to start selling servers to run and software to manage the new applications, Yocam says. The idea is to sell these products and services directly to companies, rather than as separate products on retail shelves. The company plans to start selling its Inprise Application Server this fall. Then, it also will release products to build and manage programs to run on the server, Yocam says. Companies such as Oracle Corp. and NetDynamics Inc. already sell application servers, says David Kelly, vice president with market researcher Hurwitz Group Inc. in Framingham, Mass. These products connect existing databases to the Internet. But the Inprise server uses object technology that the company got when it bought Visigenic. Objects are software building blocks that developers can mix and match to create programs. Objects let developers reuse blocks of software code and get products to market faster. Developers also can ''wrap'' old data in object ''containers'' so that they can work with new object-based programs, Kelly says. ''We've gone beyond the point where people can do wholesale replacement of applications or systems,'' he said. ''People need to find a way to integrate what they've already got and add in new things.'' The company's doing a good job of turning itself around, Kelly says. ''They've cleaned house, they've refocused, they have been very fiscally conservative . . . and within the company there is some energy and momentum,'' he said. But it still faces many challenges, Kelly says. ''This is not a slam dunk for Borland/Inprise,'' he said. Inprise has to expand its sales channels as well as its services and support, Kelly says. It also needs to do more work to integrate products. ''And they need to create a persona and a market presence that enterprise customers feel comfortable with,'' he said. Yocam agrees. ''I believe a real turnaround takes eight to 10 quarters. We're halfway there,'' he said. The company reported an operating profit of $1.6 million for the quarter ended March 31, though with charges it lost $13.4 million. Yocam says his goal is to reach $500 million in revenue in three years. Borland reported sales of $174 million for the 12 months ended March 31. ''We need a critical mass that allows us to be the leader,'' he said. Already, more than 65% of the company's sales come from enterprise business, Yocam says. ''We just need to help people understand that this is a different company from the Borland of old,'' he said. //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// Copyright (c) 1998 Investors Business Daily, All rights reserved. Investor's Business Daily - Computers & Technology (04/30/98) Borland Spells Enterprise 'Inprise' By Lisa Wirthman ---- Shane.