An anonymous letter posted to the Web on Thursday, allegedly penned by a senior RIM employee, took Research in Motion to task for a lack of management accountability, poor software tools, and even being too nice.
Although the letter was penned anonymously and submitted to BGR, RIM chose - anonymously - to acknowledge it, and confirmed that its management was "fully aware of and aggressively addressing both the company's challenges and its opportunities".
The author of the letter addressed "Mike and Jim" - Mike Lazaridis and Jim Balsillie, the co-chief executives of RIM - and opened with the statement, "I have lost confidence".
BGR said that it had confirmed the letter's author as a "high-level RIM employee".
"We are in the middle of major 'transition' and things have never been more chaotic," the letter's author wrote. "Almost every project is falling further and further behind schedule at a time when we absolutely must deliver great, solid products on time. We urge you to make bold decisions about our organisational structure, about our culture and most importantly our products."
The letter's author identified eight problems to address: focus on the end-user experience, recruit senior software leaders, pare projects to their essentials, prioritize developers, improve marketing, improve accountability ("Canadians are too nice") and treat the press and customers with humility and paranoia. Finally, the author wrote, it was time to stand up and energize the troops.
The author also suggested renaming the company "BlackBerry" to signify the company's focus on its new QNX superphones.
RIM's missteps have been heavily scrutinized, including the lack of email in the BlackBerry PlayBook, a botched interview with CNBC, and then product delays and poor sales. PCMag.com wireless analyst Sascha Segan went so far as to put the company on a death watch
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All of those problems can be addressed, the letter said.
RIM's first priority, according to the letter, was identifying and focusing on the end-user experience, almost exactly the same thing Apple chief executive Steve Jobs said upon his return to the company in 2007.
"We often make product decisions based on strategic alignment, partner requests or even legal advice — the end user doesn't care," the letter says. "We simply have to admit that Apple is nailing this and it is one of the reasons they have people lining up overnight at stores around the world, and products sold out for months."
But the letter-writer also suggested that RIM hire some heavy hitters to manage its software programs, including improving its developer SDKs beyond "a rundown 1990's Ford Explorer" quality to Apple's "shiny new BMW M3". Excess programs should be cut, and RIM should respond to customers, not carriers, he wrote. Finally, the letter's author recommended demoting both co-CEOs.
"To avoid this death, perhaps it is time to seriously consider a new, fresh thinking, experienced CEO," the letter's author wrote. "There is no shame in no longer being a CEO. Mike, you could focus on innovation. Jim, you could focus on our carriers/customers? They are our lifeblood."
For its part, an anonymous blog post on RIM's BlackBerry blog confirmed that the senior management team at RIM is "fully aware of and aggressively addressing both the company's challenges and its opportunities".
"RIM recently confirmed that it is nearing the end of a major business and technology transition.," the company wrote. "Although this transition has taken longer than anticipated, there is much excitement and optimism within the company about the new products that are lined up for the coming months."
