Informix cuts staff and databases

Software vendor Informix is to cut 500 jobs worldwide and reduce the number of database platforms it produces as part of a bid to bounce back from recent management changes and poor financial results.

The cuts will affect staff in the company's finance, marketing and administration divisions and coincide with efforts to shrink five business units down to two. The two groups, database business operations and solutions business operations, will be headed by senior vice presidents Jim Foy and Pete Fiore respectively.

Informix also confirmed that some products will go as it focuses on software for the ecommerce and ebusiness markets. A full announcement is expected at the end of August.

Fiore told vnunet.com: "Some products will not make it and we will have to phase out some. There are too many database platforms - we have six or seven."

Informix will concentrate on growth areas such as business intelligence and applications for ebusinesses. One example is Cloudscape, a Java-based database for embedded mobile systems and distributed ebusiness applications. Databases will continue to be a significant part of the company's business but will be backed by a more coherent strategy, said Fiore.

The company is slowly seeing a turnaround in its fortunes and last month recorded a 10.3 per cent rise in turnover for the first quarter ending 31 March. Previously, Informix had been plagued with losses ever since it was forced to restate financial results after several former employees were accused of inflating turnover between 1994 and the first quarter of 1997.

Informix is currently on its third chief executive in 12 months. The company installed Peter Gyenes as chief executive in July, replacing former chief financial officer Jean Yves Dexmier, who was ousted in the face of disappointing second quarter figures. The news caused Informix's share price to plummet to about $4 from a year high of $21.

Dexmier's predecessor was Bob Finocchio, who stepped down after he restored the company back to financial health.

Fiore said much of the restructuring "could be attributed to poor execution and investing in too broad spectrum of products".