Tod Nielsen is Borland's loss and VMware's gain. Nielsen, formerly
president and CEO of Borland Software, has been named chief operating
officer at VMware.
Nielsen, who joined Borland in 2005 and oversaw the spin-off and
later sale of its developer tools unit, was named VMware's COO on Jan.
5. At VMware, Nielsen will join his former colleague Paul Maritz, who
Nielsen worked closely with at Microsoft. Maritz is president and CEO
of VMware.
Prior to Borland, Nielsen held several executive management
positions at leading software companies including Microsoft, BEA
Systems and Oracle. He brings more than 20 years of experience in the
business of building, marketing and managing manpower and processes in
the enterprise software and developer tools business.
"I am delighted to have Tod join VMware and bring his passion for
software and wealth of leadership experience to our executive team,”
Maritz said in a statement. “In this newly created role, Tod brings
unique skills and capabilities that will help us improve our
operational focus and enhance our execution across all areas of the
business. With Tod on board, I will be able to devote more of my time
to the product strategy and development, while Tod focuses more on
business, marketing and operations. Having worked closely with Tod in
the past, I know that we will work effectively together and complement
each other.”
As VMware bolsters its ranks with Borland's former honcho, Borland
gears up for another round of belt tightening – something the company
has grown accustomed to over its many years of existence.
Meanwhile, also on Jan. 5, Borland not only announced Nielsen's
resignation, but the application lifecycle management (ALM) software
maker also announced a work force reduction of about 15 percent and
preliminary financial results for the fourth quarter ended Dec. 31,
2008, including revenue if $38.5 million to $40 million. This would
represent a shortfall compared to previous forecasts.
Borland officials said the company will reduce its work force by
approximately 130 employees, which amounts to the aforementioned 15
percent of the company's regular full-time staff. Borland said the work
force reduction and cost cuts will save the company $12 million to $14
million.
The company said the majority of the planned work force reductions
are part of a plan to recalibrate Borland's go-to-market strategy under
Rich Novak, the company's recently appointed senior vice president of
worldwide field operations. The new structure unifies sales and
marketing, creates an enterprise solutions team focused on selling the
newly delivered Borland Management Solutions, and provides for growing
a global inside sales team, Borland officials said.
In a statement, Borland's acting president and CEO, Erik Prusch,
said: “Over the past two years, I’ve seen Borland make enormous strides
both in terms of operational improvements and delivering on its Open
ALM vision. We have the products, talent and financial footing to
withstand near term economic uncertainties and continue the strategy
we’ve outlined to investors. I’m excited to lead Borland through its
transformation to an innovative leader in the ALM market, committed to
delivering the highest quality products and services to our customers.”
Meanwhile, Borland said Peter Morowski, senior vice president of
research and development at Borland, will be leaving the company to
pursue other opportunities.
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