Borland outlined its latest strategy last week when it disclosed plans to divest its integrated development environment (IDE) business and acquire Lexington, Mass.-based Segue Software Inc. for US$100 million. Segue sells software quality assurance and testing tools that Borland will add to its ALM offerings.

The strategy shift comes about five years after the development tool pioneer retook the Borland name following a failed two-year effort to broaden its product portfolio as Inprise Corp.

Borland officials said they have already discussed the sale of the development tools -- Delphi, C++Builder, C#Builder and JBuilder -- with potential buyers and expect to complete the process over the next two quarters. Borland has retained New York-based Bear, Stearns & Co. to manage the sales process.

Target Companies

Borland's ALM strategy targets companies like Knoxville, Tenn.-based retailer Jewelry Television (JTV), which is already relying heavily on Segue's quality assurance and testing products in a new project to replace 98 percent of its enterprise software with Web services.