The IT Nerd

Now this is an interesting question that I got in my inbox today. How would I fix RIM. Seeing as they are on life support at the moment, I’m not 100% sure they can be fixed. But lets assume for a second that it is possible to fix RIM. Here’s what I would do to fix it:

1. The board has to go: RIM would not have gotten this bad if the board who oversaw ex-CEOs Jim Balsillie and Mike Lazaridis actually did their jobs as opposed to look the other way. There’s no reason to believe that this won’t continue seeing as largely the same board is still in place. Thus it needs to be swept away and complete outsiders need to come in and take over.
2. A CEO from the outside needs to be hired: Thorsten Heins hasn’t been CEO all that long, but he has been with RIM since 2007 according to RIM.com. He spent the first few months of his tenure as CEO basically saying that there was nothing wrong. Now he’s laying off 5000 people and the company has lost $518 million. But according to him, it’s not as bad as it looks although he’s not happy with the performance of RIM. Sorry, he’s as much a part of the problem with RIM as the board is. Thus the solution is similar. A complete outsider needs to come in and run the company.
3. Blackberry 10 must ship early in 2013: By early in 2013, I mean January 1, 2013. This new platform which is the only thing that will save RIM is going to be late to market having been delayed at least twice. By then, there will likely be a new iPhone and a new version of Android on the streets and in the hands of consumers. It cannot afford a third delay under any circumstances if they want to get back into the game.
4. Blackberry 10 must be outstanding: It will not be good for RIM if Blackberry 10 gets a bunch of ho hum reviews. Blackberry 10 has to hit the ground bug free, and it has to be something that shifts the smartphone market back to RIM. Anything less, and they’re screwed.
5. RIM needs a plan “b”: What happens if Blackberry 10 arrives dead on arrival? What’s their plan “b”? I have no idea. RIM needs one and they need one now.

Agree? Disagree? Did I miss anything? Post a comment and share your thoughts.

This entry was posted on July 13, 2012 at 8:33 am and is filed under Commentary with tags BlackBerry, RIM. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.