Is TIBCO Nearing End of Days?

Is TIBCO Nearing End of Days?

A decade ago, back in the “SOA days,” we compared various Enterprise Service Bus (ESB) vendors and the products they were hawking. When the conversation came around to TIBCO, we liked to joke that they were the “Scientology of ESB vendors,” because their technology was so proprietary that techies essentially had to devote their life to TIBCO to be worthy of working with their products.

But joking aside, we also gave them credit where credit was due. Their core ESB product, Rendezvous, actually worked quite well. After all, NASDAQ, FedEx, and Delta Airlines ran the thing. TIBCO obviously had the whole scalability thing nailed – unlike competitors like SeeBeyond back in the day, who competed with TIBCO in the Enterprise Application Integration space (the precursor to ESBs).

Cut to 2014, and TIBCO’s fortunes are now in question, as the stock market has pummeled their stock price, and a leveraged buyout (LBO) is in the works, with deep pocketed firms hoping to take the company private.

Sometimes, going private can be a good thing for a company, as it gives them the money as well as the privacy they need to make bold, innovative changes before relaunching as a public company. But in other cases, LBOs are opportunities for the venture capitalist vultures to sell off the company in parts, squeezing every last penny out of the assets while shifting all the risk to employees, customers, and basically anybody but themselves.

Which path TIBCO will take is unclear, as the buyout itself isn’t even a sure thing at this point. But TIBCO’s downfall – noting that I’m sure no one at the company would call it that – has some important lessons for all of us, because TIBCO’s story isn’t simply about a dinosaur unable to adapt to a new environment.

Their story is not a simple Innovator’s Dilemma case study. In fact, they’ve moved solidly into Cloud, Big Data, and Social Technologies – three of the hot, growing areas that characterize the technology landscape for the 2010s. So what happened to them?

It could be argued that they simply executed poorly, essentially taking some wrong turns on the way to a Cloudified nirvana. Rolling out a special social media product only for rich and important people – a social network for the one percent – does indicate that they’re out of touch with most customers.

And then there’s the proprietary aspect to their technology that is still haunting them. Today’s techies would much rather work with modern languages and environments than to have to go back to school to earn a particular vendor’s way of doing things.

Perhaps the problem is price. Their upstart competitors continue their downward pricing pressure, one of the economic patterns that the move to the Cloud has doubled down on. From the perspective of shareholders, however, TIBCO’s biggest problem has been growth. It’s very difficult for a large, established vendor to grow nearly as fast as smaller, more nimble players, especially when it still makes a lot of its money in saturated markets like messaging middleware.

Adding Cloud, Big Data, or Social Media products to the product list doesn’t change this fundamental mathematics, even though those new products may themselves experience rapid growth, since the new product lines account for a relatively small portion of their overall revenue.

So, how is a company like TIBCO to compete with smaller, faster growing vendors? Here’s where LBO plan B comes in: break up the company. Sell off the established products like Rendezvous to larger middleware players like Oracle. I’m sure Oracle would be happy to have TIBCO’s middleware customers, and they have shown a reasonable ability to keep such customers generally happy over the years.

Any SeeBeyond customers out there? SeeBeyond was acquired by Sun Microsystems, who renamed the product Java CAPS. Then Oracle acquired Sun, rolling Java CAPS and BEA Systems’ middleware products into Oracle SOA Suite. No one would be that surprised if Rendezvous suffered a similar fate.

The owners of whatever is left of TIBCO would focus their efforts on growing smaller, newer products. The end result won’t be a TIBCO us old timers would recognize, but should they ever go public again, they have a change to be a market darling once more.

devx-admin

devx-admin

Share the Post:
Chinese 5G Limitation

Germany Considers Limiting Chinese 5G Tech

A recent report has put forth the possibility that Germany’s Federal Ministry of the Interior and Community may consider limiting the use of Chinese 5G

Modern Warfare

The Barak Tank is Transforming Modern Warfare

The Barak tank is a groundbreaking addition to the Israeli Defense Forces’ arsenal, significantly enhancing their combat capabilities. This AI-powered military vehicle is expected to

AI Cheating Growth

AI Plagiarism Challenges Shake Academic Integrity

As generative AI technologies like ChatGPT become increasingly prevalent among students and raise concerns about widespread cheating, prominent universities have halted their use of AI

US Commitment

US Approves Sustainable Battery Research

The US Department of Energy has revealed a $325 million commitment in the research of innovative battery types, designed to enable solar and wind power

Netanyahu Musk AI

Netanyahu and Musk Discuss AI Future

On September 22, 2023, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with entrepreneur Elon Musk in San Francisco prior to attending the United Nations. In a

Chinese 5G Limitation

Germany Considers Limiting Chinese 5G Tech

A recent report has put forth the possibility that Germany’s Federal Ministry of the Interior and Community may consider limiting the use of Chinese 5G technology by local network providers

Modern Warfare

The Barak Tank is Transforming Modern Warfare

The Barak tank is a groundbreaking addition to the Israeli Defense Forces’ arsenal, significantly enhancing their combat capabilities. This AI-powered military vehicle is expected to transform the way modern warfare

AI Cheating Growth

AI Plagiarism Challenges Shake Academic Integrity

As generative AI technologies like ChatGPT become increasingly prevalent among students and raise concerns about widespread cheating, prominent universities have halted their use of AI detection software, such as Turnitin’s

US Commitment

US Approves Sustainable Battery Research

The US Department of Energy has revealed a $325 million commitment in the research of innovative battery types, designed to enable solar and wind power as continuous, 24-hour energy sources.

Netanyahu Musk AI

Netanyahu and Musk Discuss AI Future

On September 22, 2023, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with entrepreneur Elon Musk in San Francisco prior to attending the United Nations. In a live-streamed discussion, Netanyahu lauded Musk

Urban Gardening

Creating Thriving Cities Through Urban Gardening

The rising popularity of urban gardening is receiving increased recognition for its numerous advantages, as demonstrated in a recent study featured in the Environmental Research Letters journal. Carried out by

What You Need to Know About Cloud Security Strategies

What You Need to Know About Cloud Security Strategies

Today, many businesses are adopting cloud computing services. As a result, it’s important to recognize that security measures for data in the cloud are different from those in traditional on-premises

Romanian Energy Security

Eastern Europe is Achieving Energy Security

Canada and Romania have solidified their commitment to energy security and independence from Russian energy exports by signing a $3-billion export development agreement. The deal is centered on constructing two

Seamless Integration

Unlocking Seamless Smart Home Integration

The vision of an intelligently organized and interconnected smart home that conserves time, energy, and resources has long been desired by many homeowners. However, this aspiration has often been hindered

New Algorithm

MicroAlgo’s Groundbreaking Algorithm

MicroAlgo Inc. has revealed the creation of a knowledge-augmented backtracking search algorithm, developed through extensive research in evolutionary computational techniques. The algorithm is designed to boost problem-solving effectiveness, precision, and

Poland Energy Future

Westinghouse Builds Polish Power Plant

Westinghouse Electric Company and Bechtel have come together to establish a formal partnership in order to design and construct Poland’s inaugural nuclear power plant at the Lubiatowo-Kopalino site in Pomerania.

EV Labor Market

EV Industry Hurting For Skilled Labor

The United Auto Workers strike has highlighted the anticipated change towards a future dominated by electric vehicles (EVs), a shift which numerous people think will result in job losses. However,

Soaring EV Quotas

Soaring EV Quotas Spark Battle Against Time

Automakers are still expected to meet stringent electric vehicle (EV) sales quotas, despite the delayed ban on new petrol and diesel cars. Starting January 2023, more than one-fifth of automobiles

Affordable Electric Revolution

Tesla Rivals Make Bold Moves

Tesla, a name synonymous with EVs, has consistently been at the forefront of the automotive industry’s electric revolution. The products that Elon Musk has developed are at the forefront because

Sunsets' Technique

Inside the Climate Battle: Make Sunsets’ Technique

On February 12, 2023, Luke Iseman and Andrew Song from the solar geoengineering firm Make Sunsets showcased their technique for injecting sulfur dioxide (SO₂) into the stratosphere as a means

AI Adherence Prediction

AI Algorithm Predicts Treatment Adherence

Swoop, a prominent consumer health data company, has unveiled a cutting-edge algorithm capable of predicting adherence to treatment in people with Multiple Sclerosis (MS) and other health conditions. Utilizing artificial

Personalized UX

Here’s Why You Need to Use JavaScript and Cookies

In today’s increasingly digital world, websites often rely on JavaScript and cookies to provide users with a more seamless and personalized browsing experience. These key components allow websites to display

Geoengineering Methods

Scientists Dimming the Sun: It’s a Good Thing

Scientists at the University of Bern have been exploring geoengineering methods that could potentially slow down the melting of the West Antarctic ice sheet by reducing sunlight exposure. Among these

why startups succeed

The Top Reasons Why Startups Succeed

Everyone hears the stories. Apple was started in a garage. Musk slept in a rented office space while he was creating PayPal with his brother. Facebook was coded by a

Bold Evolution

Intel’s Bold Comeback

Intel, a leading figure in the semiconductor industry, has underperformed in the stock market over the past five years, with shares dropping by 4% as opposed to the 176% return

Semiconductor market

Semiconductor Slump: Rebound on the Horizon

In recent years, the semiconductor sector has faced a slump due to decreasing PC and smartphone sales, especially in 2022 and 2023. Nonetheless, as 2024 approaches, the industry seems to

Elevated Content Deals

Elevate Your Content Creation with Amazing Deals

The latest Tech Deals cater to creators of different levels and budgets, featuring a variety of computer accessories and tools designed specifically for content creation. Enhance your technological setup with

Learn Web Security

An Easy Way to Learn Web Security

The Web Security Academy has recently introduced new educational courses designed to offer a comprehensible and straightforward journey through the intricate realm of web security. These carefully designed learning courses