Yesterday a high ranking RIM employee released a damning open letter, condemning almost every aspect of the company and pointing where it had gone wrong. And it didn’t mince words, highlighting exactly where the competition had overtaken it.
Well now RIM has issued an official response, and it makes for some pretty interesting reading. Click through to see exactly what RIM has to say in its defence.
The original was about as damning as they come, with an unnamed ‘senior RIM executive’ addressing the management team, saying he had lost confidence.
Boy Genius Reports reported the letter attacked RIM’s workings, saying it was not focussing on the end user experience (“We often make product decisions based on strategic alignment, partner requests or even legal advice – the end user doesn’t care”) that communication was an issue (“Teams still aren’t talking together properly, no one is making or can make critical decisions, all the while everyone is working crazy hours and still far behind”), and that projects were too diffuse (“There is a serious need to consolidate our focus to just a handful of employees”).
Golly.
Well the official reply is in from RIM, and as you can imagine, it’s fairly defensive. It starts by saying it’s hard to address anonymous commentary, but that RIM’s management team is “aggressively addressing both the company’s challenges and its opportunities.”
It says the company is excited about the transition period it’s in, though it has taken longer than expected. It says because of recent rapid growth, “it has become necessary for the company to streamline its operations in order to allow it to grow its business profitably while pursuing newer strategic opportunities.” Then it says the company is solid financially, and quotes some figures, finishing with, “RIM is more committed than ever to serving its loyal customers and partners around the world.”
So, what do you reckon? An appropriate response? Or papering over the cracks? Let us know in the comments.
Via BGR
