[JAGWIRE]

if this is true it would soooo suck. hopefully he left for his own reasons and nothing to do with the company.

[RyMac04]

I would agree with any comments surrounding "Out with the Old, in with the NEW".

We can all agree to some extent that OS5 and partly OS6 were not what they should have been.

OS7 is the first step in the right direction, and QNX is the light at the end of the tunnel. The departure of this exec with the arrival of the new operating systems seems to coordinate well for RIM.

[missing_K-W]

After 14 acquisitions....and the abundance of talent brought on board it's time to transition these people into the upper management and executive roles...

The wheels were put in motion this past spring to remove dead wood at the top....Thorston Heins...RIM's COO spoke of this at an employee event in Waterloo...
I've provided a link for those who wish to be informed...

http://www.berryreview.com/2011/03/3...ev-conference/

There is a bureaucracy that exists within upper management and certain execs that are preventing and delaying progress....Mike L and Jim B are aware of this....Through my research and own observations Mr Heins has been granted more authority as COO to trim the fat and stream line operations and make the company more productive, innovative ,efficient etc....

Many of the execs who are leaving are heading divisions that are under performing...This may not be the case with all...however...with RIM investing heavily in Ottawa with QNX, hiring many software engineers....The Blackberry Partners fun managing millions of dollars, as well as an Executive shakeup etc....I see some very rapid prudent changes....

[ADGrant]

Well there's a huge difference in developing applications between the two applications. BlackBerry has JDE(Java Development Environment) which is written in using old SWING program. Android conversely uses Eclipse which is far easier and much more up to date, by about a decade. The difference is huge and makes Dev for BB bad & irritating. But there's more.

Just like people complain about the poor UI of apps in comparison to other platforms. But the BlackBerry code must be written in Java Code whereas Android uses XML. This is not only better for applications UI development but easier. Also the emulators. If you want to test a new build for BlackBerry, you must fire up emulator each time. That's not the case for Android. And the fact it's open source is easy to get help with problems that may arise.

Apple on the other hand is easier than the both of them combined. That's why people are happy or like to develop for Apple products. This has changed and will change a bit more when QNX is ported to HH's. QNX has WebWorks, AIR and some others that are simply easier and more up to date. BlackBerry will one day be equal to other platforms on the Dev side and we'll see many more applications that are visually appealing & intricate like applications of other platforms.

Not sure I agree with all of this. I believe that BB apps can be developed in Eclipse (which is not a particularly wonderful IDE anyway). Android uses XML for the screen layout, the apps are still written in Java and still run in an emulator.

Apple applications OTOH (both Mac and iOS) are written in Objective-C which was originally a C++ competitor but is now mostly used for OS-X and iOS development. It's an interesting language but I think Java is easier to use (as is C#). However, Objective-C apps probably run faster on an equivalent CPU since they don't require a VM.

People want to develop for iOS because there are so many iOS devices in use and there is not much fragmentation (currently three screen resolutions).

[slicx]

agree with some of the points made but QNX is a way better platform than the iOS and the bridge feature is just awesome!

[BBThemes]

Doesn't seem like much of a loss to me. This guy become VP in 2008 and what improvements have been made? Any improvements have come due to acquisitions. The new breed of OS7 devices are basically done and QNX is here. Leave the future in the hands of the QNX guys.

have to agree, if he`s been there for such a long time, but never had the vision to see that things were going into larger file downloads and such then maybe now is the right time for a change. plus from being in charge of the OS im guessing had something to do with the storm OS, which wasnt their best moment (although i think the principle idea was valid, it was the execution that lacked).

[sosumi11]

Suresh Periyalwar, Senior Vice President of Handheld Software, had been with RIM since April 2001 when he joined as Director of Software Development. He came to the company from Nortel, where he managed CDMA-related development for more than five years. Periyalwar was promoted to SVP at RIM three years ago in May 2008 according to his LinkedIn profile"

Wouldn't this be the guy that would have approved or suggested the purchase of QNX in the first place? Could it be his leaving (or rumor thereof) is because the transition to the QNX OS was not as easy as he thought or presented? Now he is washing his hands and walking away.

[flyersfan76]

Wouldn't this be the guy that would have approved or suggested the purchase of QNX in the first place? Could it be his leaving (or rumor thereof) is because the transition to the QNX OS was not as easy as he thought or presented? Now he is washing his hands and walking away.

Not necessarily. From what I have read in the past the QNX acquisition came about when RIM and QNX teamed up to develop QNX Car. After that project was off the ground RIM approached Harman International to see if QNX was for sale.

So the Phone software boss may not have been fully involved with the purchase decision.

[sosumi11]

So the Phone software boss may not have been fully involved with the purchase decision.

The phone software boss was not majorly involved of a phone software purchase?

[flyersfan76]

The phone software boss was not majorly involved of a phone software purchase?

QNX was NOT phone software.

Yes it is being transitioned to become phone software (while probably maintaining the other aspects it has) but with any transition the engineers from QNX might fit better with the new software and not the old software boss trying to learn the new software.

[Phil DeLong]

agree with some of the points made but QNX is a way better platform than the iOS and the bridge feature is just awesome!

While I don't disagree that QNX is a good platform, you know the article is about a person leaving, not about QNX right?

[sleepngbear]

While I don't disagree that QNX is a good platform, you know the article is about a person leaving, not about QNX right?

True, but being that RIM is in the thick of transitioning from BBOS to QNX, the timing is curious at the very least. One possibility is that this guy was married to the old BBOS and either got tired of bucking the transition or was 'asked' to seek other employment because of it. Not saying it's necessarily the case, but it's certainly a plausible scenario.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[TheMimic]

A few points to consider:
1- RIM is cutting cost with layoffs/package outs. The best way to do that is to flush a chunk of middle and upper management that they deem no longer serves a purpose or is not yielding their worth in a cost/benefit analysis. This is how it’s done in every big company. Did everyone think RIM laid off 2000 base level employees? That’s not how you save a sh*t load of money in salaries…

2- This guy was in charge of the old BBOS. The major contributing factor to why RIM is being branded as archaic or no longer relevant. They should have thought about revamping the OS long ago. Not what will be 5 years AFTER the iPhone came to market and cleaned up and Android started assimilating everyone like the borg.

3-Whether he was asked to leave, or jumped ship is irrelevant. If you knew you’re company was trimming the fat or you were in a major transition, you’d be looking out for yourself and looking for a new job, which is what many did when they defected to Samsung. They saw a safer bet and took it. Human nature when you have bills to pay and you’re seeing it getting to risky.

I started at my company in 2006 and the stock price was around 60-65$ after the first year, the price was declining steadily. Recession hit, and the shares were high 20s. The company laid off a large portion of its workforce including something like 400 middle and upper management jobs. Shuffled around the remaining management team to become more efficient and now the company is back to making excellent profit as well as the stock price hitting 55$ this month. When you work at a company and see how useless some of the management staff is (how much money they make for how little and redundant work they do) you sometimes wonder how no one ever noticed how useless these people were to being with.)

The problem is the company, like in its failure to act quick enough and execute, waited too long to trim the fat and get some new players in who would move things forward. I think they’re starting to realize how slow things are moving and they are finding the people responsible and making them accountable.

[Phil DeLong]

True, but being that RIM is in the thick of transitioning from BBOS to QNX, the timing is curious at the very least. One possibility is that this guy was married to the old BBOS and either got tired of bucking the transition or was 'asked' to seek other employment because of it. Not saying it's necessarily the case, but it's certainly a plausible scenario.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

Very valid points. I wouldn't be surprised in the least bit if he were "asked" to seek other employment. As others have said, if he stepped in to his position he's in now in 2008, his track record might not necessarily be amazing.