

Source: RIM begins laying off high-level staff - protomyth
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe-investor/rim-begins-laying-off-high-level-staff-source/article2386012/

======
squadron
Mr. Heins (new RIM CEO) says _"we are undertaking a comprehensive review of
strategic opportunities including partnerships and joint ventures, licensing,
and other ways to leverage RIM's assets and maximize value for our
stakeholders."_

Can you imagine Steve Jobs saying stuff like "maximize value for our
shareholders"?

Steve was obsessed with providing a user experience that blew people's minds
and designing products that changed the world. And he did, repeatedly.

RIM's leadership has no vision, and so there is no chance they will survive.

~~~
phil
That's code for "we're talking to other companies about what we have that we
can sell them."

~~~
justincormack
The best deal is to sell the enterprise integration bits to Microoft, or the
whole company to anyone who wants it, if there is anyone.

~~~
meric
I would buy it, if the price is low enough (less than or equal to the money I
have in my account).

------
Toddward
_“It is very clear to me that substantial change is what RIM needs,” Mr. Heins
said on the call with investors._

Compared to (just a few months ago):

 _"I don’t think that there is a drastic change needed."_

Oh, RIM.

~~~
grannyg00se
I believe he clarified later on that what he meant by no drastic change needed
was that selling the company was not on the table. However, I think his
position on that may have changed now anyway.

------
phil
The crazy thing is, this is _good_ news for RIM. If Heins really cleaned house
with the execs and he replaces them with people that can see reality, that's
probably the only chance for RIM to stay an independent company.

It's not clear that is what will happen. But at least now there's a chance.

------
ramy_d
Rick Mercer's bit on RIM: <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xm0gqBjDmg8>

~~~
fidotron
Scarily like the Nortel situation, only consumer facing.

------
rdl
It seems like RIM needs to get worse (in order to shake off all their dead
wood) in order to eventually get better, since their board clearly has no
clue, no care for their fiduciary responsibility, etc. I wonder if that can
happen, then BB 10 launch, saving them from doom, before Android, Windows
Phone, or iOS win the enterprise market.

I'd be willing to bet on low-end Android or WP devices taking the non-
corporate blackberry market away (BB were the cheapest smartphones in the
third world), leaving just the corporate/security/managed devices market up
for grabs. This still belongs to RIM but is fast moving to other devices.

~~~
redthrowaway
Odd as it may seem, I fully expect iOS to take over Enterprise. They're
already dominating as personal devices among the people who would be making
those decisions, and I see it as an inevitability that they'll eventually be
adopted officially.

~~~
rdl
I do, too. There are some lacking management tools, sadly, but have the best
hardware right now.

In the Bring Your Own Devices world, you pretty much have to support iOS #1
and Android #2 (pretty much all Android users in corporate environments will
take a free iPhone if that's cheaper for the company than also supporting
Android; the reverse, no). I haven't seen anyone except tech companies
actually buying iPhones at the IT level for distribution, but plenty of people
given a corporate phone buying allowance will do so. And, IT departments DO
buy iPads, so supporting iPhone + iPad is easy.

It is sad that Apple doesn't care about the enterprise market directly; even
if they just had a closely-allied company like the old Claris to build the
management tools, consulting, etc., it would make it a lot easier to use iOS
and macs in corporate environments.

~~~
elithrar
> It is sad that Apple doesn't care about the enterprise market directly;

Considering the group configuration tools they provide, I don't think that's
an accurate statement.

~~~
rdl
Those tools are a nice start but not as good as BES or some third party tools.

------
tabbyjabby
This might be a good step, but we still haven't heard a plan from RIM on how
they plan to adapt to the changing landscape. A shake up of upper management
is good in principle, but it isn't an end to itself.

