Jims is in and Ben is out!

I was a little surprised this morning reading the news about Ben Smith stepping down as CEO of CodeGear and Jim Douglas is now the new CEO. Apparently this has been in the works for sometime. It's amazing they were able to keep so tight lipped about this transition. There were no leaks about this that I am aware of. Good job with the security.

I've always thought that Borland's ultimate goal is to sell CodeGear, and their recent moves proves this. Give it a year or 2 and CodeGear will be back on the market and this time it will be sold. I've told many in my shop that the initial spin off was the beginning of the end for CodeGear. By spinning off the Tools Group, Borland could prove to potential buyers that CodeGear is worth the asking price.

That was the crux of the problem with the initial attempt to sell CodeGear. the financials were so intertwined that you could not tell where one began and the other ended. Borland could not prove what the tools group was really worth so they could not get what they thought was the true value for CodeGear.

Given Jim's past assignments, I believe there is little doubt about CodeGear being sold in the next few years.

If the right buyer can be found then this could be a brilliant move for CodeGear. if not, well then I might have to break down and buy me a copy of - dare I say it - no it can't be - Visual Studio. I am definitely not looking forward to that day.