CodeGear Names New CEO

Douglas most recently served as president and CEO of ReShape, a venture-backed electronic design automation software maker that was acquired last year by Magma Design Automation for $750,000.

Before that, Douglas was vice president of worldwide sales and marketing for Tality, a design services company spun off from Cadence Design Systems, at which Douglas previously held an assortment of senior management positions.

CodeGear's initial CEO, Smith, will return to the venture-capital arena, according to a company spokesman.

Douglas will be responsible for shaping CodeGear's strategy and operation as it works to revitalize a collection of developer tools software that Borland let stagnate. After putting the developer tools group up for sale last year, Borland reversed course and decided to hang on to the business group, which it will operate as a subsidiary.

CodeGear, based in Scotts Valley, Calif., is currently mapping out its product plans and working to revitalize its venerable Delphi and JBuilder brands with new releases tailored for modern software development.

While CodeGear's new management team aims to position the company as an independent, developer tools-focused software vendor, partners and customers still face a lingering uncertainty about its long-term future.

Borland originally made plans to shed CodeGear to allow it to focus exclusively on its new core market, application life-cycle management software. It retained the unit after failing to find a suitor willing to pay its price tag. Industry expectations are that as CodeGear works toward a turnaround, it will remain available for purchase, either by another software vendor or by an equity investment group.