In a press release yesterday, Borland intermixed a bit of information regarding the progress toward spinning-out "DevCo." As a matter of fact, it referred to our group as the "Developer Tools Group." Here's an excerpt:
"Borland announced on February 8, 2006 the intention to divest its Integrated Developer Environment (IDE) product lines. Nigel Brown, previously vice president of Borland EMEA, has been appointed general manager of Borland's internally formed Developer Tools Group. This group now consists of approximately 180 Borland employees, with sales, marketing and product teams working independently within the Company. The divesture process is proceeding according to schedule and attracting a strong number of qualified bidders. Borland is working to have a buyer identified within the next several months."
So the thing I'd like to highlight is "attracting a strong number of qualified bidders." This should be seen as very good news! Another thing to note about this process is that it "is proceeding according to schedule." Yesterday, they held a company meeting to roll out the information in the press-release to the Borland employees. It was very surreal for me. I've been to many, many company meetings throughout my 14+ years at Borland, both good and bad. This one was markedly different. I really felt as if I was sitting in on some other company's meeting. I felt a little out of place. Maybe this is just because the Developer Tools Group is really beginning to feel like a different entity. Maybe I've already psycologically severed my connection with Borland and am now squarely focused on making "DevCo" the success I know it can be. To me this is a good sign.
For the record, the other information in that press release about job cutbacks doesn't apply to the Developer Tools Group. In fact, we're still actively hiring for some key positions. We've also now have an intership program in its infancy. The next several months are going to be an exciting time!
"within the next several months"?
ReplyDeleteOMG.
"attracting a strong number of qualified bidders." ?
ReplyDeleteI'd rather Devco be a independent entity!
This has added such uncertainty to Delphi's future that we are scared of continuing investment in this tool. Time is running out before we decide on a language for future development. Looking at the way this thing is dragging out, Delphi's chances as possible candidate seems to be diminishing by the day...
ReplyDeleteFrustrated,
ReplyDelete"Dragging out"? How is this being dragged out? Transactions like this are not on the same scale as buying a car or purchasing a home. Someone is looking to put up huge amounts of money, don't you think they'd be extremely careful? For the record, in the grand scheme of things, this transaction is actually proceeding at a meteoric rate. I also don't know what folks are hoping to see once the deal closes. The teams are growing, we're proceeding along the roadmap, current products are still available and shipping... I'd say that it will look pretty much the same when the deal closes.
As a long time fan and supporter of Borland (which extends all the way to Mr. Kahn's not-so-humble beginnings in the mid 80's)I pray that "DevCo" adopts much higher standards when it comes to the QC arena. I get almost psychotically frustrated with BDS 2006 and the seemingly neverending plethora of bugs. I'm sorry, but Delphi (most notably, the IDE) really started falling apart after Delphi 7 ... and what really chaps my backside is the fact that I cannot get ahold of 7.0 any more!!!!!! Man, what I would do to get a copy of D7 on this workstation. Heck, I might even compromise my morals just to get the BDS help system working half of the time!
ReplyDeleteI have to agree with Thomas. I too have been a fan of Delphi for many years, but it's recent releases have been disappointing and not up the standards found in the earlier versions. What used to make a huge difference was the interface and ease-of-use of the environment - this is still improving over time (good!), but it seems to be at the expense of stability (bad!) which is a shame as it puts it into the microsoft category of software (nice idea, badly implemented). Looking forward to great things from DevCo - make 'em like they used to!
ReplyDeleteHoping:
ReplyDeleteI have to agree with the guys - we need Delphi made like it used to be - Rock Solid. We need "DevCo" to do this.
WO.
The whole process is thoroughly disheartening. As a long-time Delphi user and supporter, I can no longer honestly consider using Delphi for any current projects, let alone recommend Delphi to any future clients. As far as personal use goes, I'll continue to use Delphi 7 for any Windows-only projects here at home; ANYTHING cross-platform will be done in Java or C++ (one other possibility is Lazarus/FPC - not sure just yet). Even if DevCo gets its act together and manages to salvage the Delphi product, its marketshare is rapidly dwindling while its mindshare is non-existant. "The King is dead...Long live the King!"
ReplyDelete