[Fr3lncr]

Just sharing. Posted in the Ottawa Citizen. (Link: QNX feels BlackBerry)

QNX feels BlackBerry�s pain
Smartphone maker�s woes put squeeze on Ottawa firm

OTTAWA � Once the jewel in BlackBerry Ltd.�s crown, Ottawa�s QNX Software Systems Inc. is now feeling the pinch of its parent company�s woes.

The company has been hit by BlackBerry�s corporate restructuring in recent weeks, and reports from those familiar with QNX�s day-to-day operations suggest that the firm, which was on a hiring tear in June, has now suspended all new hiring. BlackBerry (then Research In Motion Ltd.) acquired QNX in 2011 for $200 million; QNX, is a leading provider of in-car operating systems and is the driving force behind the company�s new BlackBerry 10 (BB10) operating system.

BlackBerry wouldn�t reveal the details of the workforce reductions at QNX. A spokeswoman said they were �small� but necessary.

�We are in the second phase of our transformation plan. As such, last week�s small number of employee reductions in North America demonstrated another step forward to scale our company correctly for new opportunities in mobile computing,� said Lisette Kwong, a spokeswoman for BlackBerry. �Our evolution as a company (including QNX) is ongoing and is in no way easy, but we are realistic about what is required to move our transformation forward in a timely manner. We will be as transparent as possible as our plans evolve.�

Kwong said QNX currently has unfilled posted positions that it�s trying to staff, but it wouldn�t comment on whether a hiring freeze on new positions had been implemented.

Earlier on Monday, BlackBerry revealed plans that could see the company sold or taken private, and pulled off public stock markets, in a bid to remove its responsibilities to report its financial data publicly.

Ottawa is home to about 2,000 BlackBerry employees, according to industry experts. The company has been ramping up staffing in the national capital over the past few years as it worked to complete its new Z10 line of phones. Ottawa�s workforce, many of whom were once employed by wireless and networking companies such as JDS Uniphase and Nortel Networks, proved to be just the talent pool BlackBerry needed to finish its latest device.

In June 2012, chief executive Thorsten Heins called Ottawa the �epicentre of BlackBerry 10 development�. More recently, Heins has targeted the in-car operating system market, which is dominated globally by QNX, as a huge potential market for BlackBerry. As a result of the company�s local assets, the workforce in the nation�s capital has been spared from many of BlackBerry�s workforce reductions thus far.

Waterloo, where BlackBerry was founded and still maintains its corporate headquarters, hasn�t been as lucky.

In June 2012, about half of the company�s 16,500 employees were in Waterloo. Since then, the company has cut more than 7,000 jobs, many in the Waterloo region.

Tamas Michel Koplyay, a professor of project management at the Universit� du Qu�bec en Outaouais, said the restructuring is likely to continue until a sale of the company is announced. That would mean QNX and BlackBerry�s other Ottawa assets will continue to get squeezed.

�Their relationship with BlackBerry is really limiting their growth,� said Koplyay, adding that if QNX were free to chase the automotive market as an independent firm it would likely be on far better footing. �They have to follow BlackBerry�s lead. There is going to be some real dissent (within QNX).�

Thanks to QNX�s expertise in coding and its creation of the BB10 operating system, Koplyay said, the small Ottawa division is BlackBerry�s most valuable asset. The division will get squeezed by the ongoing changes at BlackBerry, he said, but it likely won�t be hit as hard as other areas of the company.

�BlackBerry is worth something as long as QNX is part of it,� said Koplyay. �QNX is the technology core of the company.�

QNX has undergone major expansion since being taken over by BlackBerry. The additional staff required the firm to abandon its previous office space on Terence Matthews Crescent in Kanata and move into a massive five-storey building on nearby Farrar Road.

Neither BlackBerry nor QNX would comment on the number of people now employed at the Ottawa division, however estimates put that number at around 400.
� Copyright (c) The Ottawa Citizen

[imz]

Ouch, its a harsh reality.

[notfanboy]

What the article fails to explain is how a professor of project management at the Universit� du Qu�bec is qualified to speak about the strained relationship between BlackBerry and QNX.

[shlammed]

lol

BlackBerry doing what they do best...making everything die.

[agp101]

What the article fails to explain is how a professor of project management at the Universit� du Qu�bec is qualified to speak about the strained relationship between BlackBerry and QNX.

He also fails to explain how he himself is qualifies to be writing such an article at all *yawn* #givemeabreak

[njblackberry]

Damned American media conspiracy, right guys?

[Dunt Dunt Dunt]

lol

BlackBerry doing what they do best...making everything die.

Too be honest QNX is a fairly small company... at the time RIM bought them they had fewer then 300 employees and revenues under 50 Million.
Not sure how much they have grown under RIM/BBRY, but I imagine a large number of people were working on BB10... now that it is "out", there isn't a need for all those coders.

But I agree that sometimes a big corporation comes in and stifles the imagination and talent in a small start-up company - those people don't function well in that environment and eventually go else where - look at TAT.

[h20work]

Damned American media conspiracy, right guys?

I hope mrfreetruth doesn't see this article!

I'm sure the author is receiving monetary compensation from an evil American corporation

[Sith_Apprentice]

In typical BlackBerry fashion they likely over staffed and had a bunch of dead weight. They likely added several layers of management that was completely unnecessary. Not saying this was the entirety of the layoffs, but likely explains at least some.

[kbz1960]

I hope they don't kill QNX along with themselves

[FFR]

Sept 27 is going to be a cruel day.

[Dunt Dunt Dunt]

I hope they don't kill QNX along with themselves

QNX is a viable entity and there are a number of players that would be interested in "saving" it.

[koolrosh]

He also fails to explain how he himself is qualifies to be writing such an article at all *yawn* #givemeabreak

What the article also fails to explain is how QNX actually grew under Blackberry. They doubled their employees and also moved to a bigger office where they can now work on 6 Concept cars with dedicated garages instead of 2 cars before with no dedicated space for it. And as of today they are still hiring at QNX. This article is complete bull.


Posted via CB10

[cgk]

What the article fails to explain is how a professor of project management at the Universit� du Qu�bec is qualified to speak about the strained relationship between BlackBerry and QNX.

He has supervised over 100 hundred consulting assignments in the Executive MBA program, resulting in 50 published cases and consulting advice to the client companies including Nortel, Cognos, Mitel, Corel, Calian, Newbridge, QNX, World Heart, Bombardier, Compaq, Dell, Entrust, Biovail, Alliance Atlantis, Philsar, Fulcrum and Rebel.com, Computing Devices Canada, Maclaren Industries, C-Tech Ltd.

He's a very well connected individual and will know people in QNX who will be telling him stuff, it's not rocket science...

[LoganSix]

Tamas Michel Koplyay, a professor of project management at the Universit� du Qu�bec en Outaouais, said the restructuring is likely to continue until a sale of the company is announced. That would mean QNX and BlackBerry’s other Ottawa assets will continue to get squeezed.

“Their relationship with BlackBerry is really limiting their growth,” said Koplyay, adding that if QNX were free to chase the automotive market as an independent firm it would likely be on far better footing. “They have to follow BlackBerry’s lead. There is going to be some real dissent (within QNX).”

Keep on professoring.
Let the people in the real world do their thing. QNX didn't want to be independent, they wanted the connection to the mobile market.