[Cobolforgcc-announce] "Whither" MERANT COBOL (was: MERANT licence fees

[William M. K. <wm...@ix...>]

FYI -
  Two posts that I just did to comp.lang.cobl

From a MERANT press release published today,

> I found the "full" MERANT stuff from today.  It is at:
>
>  http://www.merant.com/resource_center/investors/press2.asp
>
> Of particular interest to this group (I suspect) is the following,
>
> "Cobol revenues decreased at a faster than expected rate, and this
decline
> could continue. This phenomenon was experienced across the industry,
as other
> enterprise software companies have recently reported shortfalls
associated
> with mainframe revenues. We will be reducing our cost base in Cobol to
ensure
> future profitability for this revenue stream."
>
> PERSONALLY, I think that last sentence says a LOT about what you can
expect
> in the future for both NetExpress and MainframeExpress.
>

    ***


"August 22, 2000 04:12 AM

LONDON, Aug 22 (Reuters) - British software tools supplier Merant Plc
MRNT said on Tuesday it would begin a share buy-back programme and
consider a number of strategic alternatives after reporting a first
quarter loss.
 ...
 "The company is considering a number of strategic alternatives to
maximise shareholder value," Merant said in a statement.
 ...
Merant is shifting its focus from traditional Cobol (Common Business
Oriented Language) software products to its new Egility e-business
software -- which allows companies to mix computer applications
programmed in different languages.

But it has been unable to replace services as fast as expected, with
demand for its traditional products vanishing at a rapid pace.

Merant's total first quarter Cobol revenue fell 24 percent, and Cobol
licence fees dropped 43 percent. But its Egility business grew seven
percent and now made up nearly two-thirds of its business, Merant said.
"