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REVIEWING - saving blackberry

[WHAT - about]

1. ] A recent article on John Chen's simple plan to save blackberry by Sean Silcoff of the financial times, outlines why Chen was the choice of Prem Watsa to attemt to engineer the turnaround of this once tech giant. The article outlines Chens background and a bit of Chens history engineering the turnover of Sybase which resulted in sale of the company to SAP at 13x the share price of when he tookover the company. It also delves into how Chen foresaw the mobile revolution as early as 1999-08 and used that to benefit Sybase in their turnaroud.

[WHY]

1. ] been there, done that, got the t-shirt
2. ]

[WHERE - the plan/strategy, going forward ...]

1. ] direct sales force
   
1. ] beleives he needs: a direct sales force that speaks one-on-one with customers who have the most to gain from using BlackBerry. These sectors—government and “regulated” industries such as banks, insurance and health care—benefit most from BlackBerry’s industry-leading security, and they tend to be home to users who appreciate the efficiency of a physical keyboard compared to a touchscreen.
2. ] vertical applications
1. ] building out “vertical applications” that are connected to a customer’s internal systems and run on the BlackBerry network. The company hasn’t offered much in the way of enterprise applications beyond the basics of e-mail, calendar and contacts. “With increasing power in our devices, there’s more opportunity for enterprises to do more on mobile devices than before,” says John Sims . “It’s not an opportunity we’ve missed, but one we can participate in.” The company had few details to offer at press time but promised to start revealing its plans in late February
3. ] DIVIDED the company into 4 PILLARS
   
1. ] BES - blackberry server software for device management, REVENUE: currently provides 80% companies revenue,
2. ] DEVICES - shrinking market share, REVENUE: losses, 
3. ] QNX - aquired by blackberry in 2010, creator of the RT OS that bb 10 is based upon, primary market is embedded systems like ( internet routers, flight simulators, air traffic control, shipping navigation systems, high speed train controllers, in-car infotainment and control systems, warehouse distribution systems, cable TV delivery, Hollywood special effects systems, smartphones, mobile devices, hospital/medical technology (e.g. ECG machines, angiography, cardic monitors, cancer treatment, LISIK systems), casino gaming systems, and more.) REVENUE:
4. ] BBM - messaging/communications app, REVENUE: no revenue ?
4. ] BES 
   
1. ] focusing on the enterprise,
5. ] QNX
1. ] Chen has likewise talked up the ability of his QNX software division to power “machine-to-machine” communications, IOT,
6. ] DEVICES
   
1. ] Remaining in the handset business is important—for now, at least. “I think devices are still one component of the solution,” Chen says. “The question is, Do we need to be in the device business? That remains to be seen.”
2. ] bringing back the 'classic blackberry'
3. ] focusing on keyboard devices
4. ] bringing back the 'blackberry toolbelt buttons' to some bb 10 devices
7. ] BBM
1. ] peddling the company’s BlackBerry Messenger instant messaging application as a tool for enterprise users
8. ] OVERALL
   
1. ] Chen wants BlackBerry to transform itself from being a “mobile technology company” that pushes handset sales to “a mobile solutions company” that takes a broader approach to serving the mobile computing needs of its customers.

[WHEN]

1. ] 2013-11-04 - ....

[EXAMPLE - HOW - is it going so far? ]

1. [2013-11] Chen is appointed new interim CEO of BBRY
1.  ]
   
2. [2013-mm] initial 'public' messaging
1. ] in a series of full page newspaper ads - yeah, were NOT dead, we are very much alive and we are going to be around for a while
3. [2014] striking a manufacturing deal with Taiwan’s Foxconn Technology Group
1. ] that off-loads much of the company’s financial risk and
4. [2013-12] overhauling the senior management team, recruiting a group of experienced executives he knows and trusts.
1. ] Mark Wilson - as senior vice-president of marketing, brings extensive experience building brand preference and driving integrated marketing for a number of well-known companies. OUT Frank Boulben,
2. ] James S. Mackey - new Executive Vice President for Corporate Development and Strategic Planning
3. ] John Sims - new President of global enterprise services, a recruit from SAP/Sybase
5. [2014-mm] selling off real estate assets
   
1. ] leasing some space back, raising capital short term
6. [2014-mm] QUOTES places the chances of saving BBRY at 50/50
1. ] 
7. [2014-03] QUOTES no interest in selling BBRY , focus on the enterprise customers first,
   
1. ] I have no interest in selling the company,” Chen said. “Not at this point. I think the company has a lot of value. I’m interested in unlocking that value. I think the shareholder will not be as rewarded by selling at this point because our full value hasn’t been realized.“
2. ] "I don’t want anybody to think that BlackBerry is walking away from the mass market. But in order to repair the company, especially on the financial side of the equation, I need to focus on the enterprise customer first.”
3. ] listening to core customers - “If the customer likes it, it’s the right thing to do,” 
4. ] http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/blackberry-ceo-john-chen-on-his-turnaround-strategy-1.2590576
8. [2014-05] QUOTES raises the chances of saving BBRY to 80/20
1. ]“I don’t really want to comment on past management decisions, but we cast our net a little too broad," "At the same time, we haven’t really added value to the enterprise space.”
2. ] "I'll be able to create a lot of value for our shareholders even without a handset business. But I think with a handset business there's a chance to even create more," "I have been very clear, I know a plan to make money out of the handset."
3. ] http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/blackberry-ceo-john-chen-we-have-an-80-chance-of-survival-1.2658498
9. [2014-06] the amazon APP store deal
1. ] to gain access to the e-commerce giant's Appstore (240K apps) for mobile devices,
2. ] AMZN currently has about 240K apps, while BBRY has 130K and AAPL and GOOG both offer over 1M apps
3. ] the AMZN app store will be preloaded on BBRY devices in the fall of 2014 with the next major OS update
4. ] BBRY goal - reducing the pressure it faces to support and secure many consumer-focused apps, while freeing up those resources to develop software applications that appeal to enterprise customers."I do not have to spend time, energy and money" developing apps that Amazon offers, Mr. Chen said. "Given I want to financially turn around the company and focus on the enterprise space, this is perfect for us."
5. ] http://online.wsj.com/articles/blackberry-to-announce-deal-with-amazon-to-gain-access-to-appstore-1403089441
10. [2014-06-19] reporting quarterly results, FY 2015-QTR-1
1. ] surprises analysts with a 23M profit,

[REFERENCE]

1. ] http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/rob-magazine/john-chens-simple-plan-to-save-blackberry/article17065516/?page=all
2. ] http://n4bb.com/blackberry-announces-new-executive-appointments-james-s-mackey-mark-wilson/
3. ] prem watsa - founder of fairfax financial, primary shareholder in blackberry
4. ]
5. ]

 

Details

ID: 3574

NAME: REVIEW-john-chens-simple-plan-to-save-blackberry

DESCRIPTION: By Don Sagrott @sospep.com - a review of John Chen's simple plan to save blackberry and how it's going so far

AUTHOR: article.author/s

EDITOR: article.editor/s

PUBLISHER: article.publisher/s

STATUS: Write

PRIORITY: -5

OWNER ID: 75

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