While changes at Adager and HP were happening, up in the Pacific Northwest, Robelle president David Greer stepped away from the company he’s been at since 1979, deciding it’s time for a change in his life. “I’m ready for something new, and it turns out it’s not going to be with Robelle, and that’s okay,” he said. “I’m sitting back and spending time with the kids and Kara Lee, not rushing into anything,” he said after Robelle posted a note of his departure on its Web site. “I probably won’t focus on the 3000 market. High-tech is red-hot here in Vancouver, with lots of exciting things happening. I’m sure I’ll be in touch with all my friends in the 3000 community, hearing what’s going on.” The reason for his departure was a difference of vision on where Robelle should be headed in the years to come. Greer believed in the prospect of a strong services business for the company, while Green preferred the core competency of software solutions. Greer said he wants to change the world, and saw Robelle as a means to do that. (That’s a reference to HP’s new “Rules of the Garage,” which encourage employees to believe they can change the world). Green felt differently, and saw anything outside of the HP software business as less profitable and more capital-intensive. In the end, Greer wanted to build out the company with more people and investment, and Green didn’t, so Green bought out his partner at year’s end.

Greer said that “the knowledge I’ve gained from being involved with the 3000 for so long has lots of applications.” He’s going to the Vancouver AceTech conference, a group of high tech CEOs, “where they bring in world-class speakers. There’s a whole bunch of stuff I need to learn that’s not technical, about business and market, lots of exciting new stuff.” Greer said that Green “is taking over the reins, and he’ll make sure the customers get looked after. Robelle moves ahead.” At age 43, Greer recognizes that “I’m still young enough to take on something new. In another 10 years it’s a lot tougher. We’re looking at life issues, too.” One of the possibilities he mentioned would put his family in an organization working to improve literacy, perhaps with overseas residence. “It’s something where we could make a big difference. We’re trying to have the courage to go take a look at that.”

Green said Robelle’s Suprtool development has been in Neil Armstrong’s hands for the past year, while Greer pursued business development for Robelle. “He’d done enough research to realize we’d have to have more people,” Green said, “more capital, probably borrow money and expand to do datacenter management: a facility, experts in new fields. The difference was in the interpretation of whether this was a good investment or not. He thought it was a great opportunity. My attitude was that in the past, when we’ve gone away from our core business, we haven’t done as well as when we’ve stuck with our core business. I didn’t think it was a good investment. If we can’t agree and we’re partners, you either have to split the company in two or do something, and what it came down to was the company was worth more to me as it stands than it was to David.”