Kertzman takes Sybase restructure on the Chen

Sybase announced its new management structure on 27 February, igniting intense speculation that CEO Mitchell Kertzman may be on the way out, and outlining plans to integrate the company's product line and refocus on high growth markets.

In the new line-up, president and COO John Chen moves up to equal footing with chairman and CEO Kertzman.

Officially, the two are now co-CEOs. Kertzman admitted that he will step back from a hands-on role at some point, although some analysts predict that he will be leaving the company.

At the same time, the vendor announced a stock repurchasing scheme that sent share prices up in after-hours trading.

Chen was brought into the company six months ago by Kertzman. Now, unusually, he is a second head in the 'Office of the CEO'.

In a conference call announcing the new management structure, Kertzman said: 'This merely formalises the working relationship John and I have had since he came to Sybase six months ago.'

Kertzman said Chen had been the one to refocus the company on three growth areas - data warehousing, mobile computing and the internet. Chen was also responsible for bringing on board a new management team over the past few months.

Sybase is planning to make up to 600 workers redundant - about 10 per cent of its employees worldwide - in its second attempt in three years to cut costs by reducing head count. The struggling software vendor said most of the losses were an attempt to 'realign resources to focus on the company's most promising product lines', and said the cuts would take place in the San Francisco Bay area.