Amidst all the troubles Research In Motion (RIM) is having at the moment, new information reveals that the Canadian smartphones and tablet maker is losing more and more senior-level executives.

In a sign that RIM is still deeply in trouble, the Wall Street Journal is reporting that two senior executives are leaving the company.

According to the Journal, RIM VP for BlackBerry Messenger platform Alistair Mitchell  has left the company.

Asked if the news was true, the Journal quotes a RIM spokeswoman as saying that the executive “is no longer with RIM.”

Furthermore, the same spokeswoman also said that RIM Senior VP for the BlackBerry platform Alan Brenner will also be departing from RIM after a “transition period”.

This suggests that RIM is in the process of selecting a person appropriate to replace Brenner in his current role with the company.

RIM has lost two more senior executives. Image: chrisamichaels / Flickr (CC)

The news comes amidst RIM cofounder, former Co-CEO and former Co-Chairman Jim Balsillie stepping down from his position as a director of the company and leaving the company thereafter.

“As I complete my retirement from RIM, I’m grateful for this remarkable experience and for the opportunity to have worked with outstanding professionals who helped turn a Canadian idea into a global success,” Balsillie said in a statement.

“On behalf of the Board and everyone at RIM, I would like to thank Jim for his 20 years of service to RIM,” said Barbara Stymiest, Chair of RIM’s Board of Directors. “His energy, drive and enthusiasm helped build one of the most successful technology companies of our time.”

Balsillie and fellow cofounder Mike Lazaridis both resigned as the co-CEOs of RIM in January amidst criticism that the company was not growing and is losing its strong position in the smartphone industry because the co-CEOs were also co-chairmen of the company’s board of directors.

There was speculation earlier in January, before Balsillie and Lazaridis stepped down, that the veteran RIM executives may soon relinquish their chairman seats.

However, it turned out that the two chose to relinquish their co-CEO seats too.

They were replaced by Thorsten Heins, a German 54-year-old veteran tech executive who was previously the chief technology officer at Siemens AG. He left Siemens AG in 2007 and joined RIM.

Meanwhile, Barbara Stymiest was also appointed as the chairperson of the RIM board as Balsillie and Lazaridis also relinquished their chairman positions.

This is, however, not the full extent of the executive exodus RIM is experiencing.

RIM has lost two more senior executives. Image: PopCultureGeek.com / Flickr (CC)

The company has also verified that Chief Operating Officer Jim Rowan and Chief Technology Officer David Yach are also leaving RIM.

RIM said in a previous release that “David Yach will be retiring from his role as CTO, Software after 13 years with the Company and after 4 years with the company and following an open dialogue on the future of global operations, Jim Rowan, COO, Global Operations, has decided to pursue other interests.”

“The Company is currently undertaking a search to hire a single COO with responsibilities to run the Company’s operations,” RIM added.

“RIM would like to thank David Yach and Jim Rowan for their years of service and many contributions to RIM. We wish them well in their future pursuits,” CEO Heins said in a statement regarding Yach’s and Rowan’s departure from the troubled company.

Heins has said in a recent statement that RIM will undertake a “comprehensive review of strategic opportunities,” meaning that the company is looking at what it is doing wrong and what it can do to make its future better.

Meanwhile, some good news for RIM is that the U.S. government has said that the smartphone platform of the company will still be favored in the foreseeable future because of its focus on security.

Source: The Wall Street Journal

About Solon Harmony Dolor

A passion for technology and journalism makes this upcoming writer very interested in social media and technology news. Fresh from finishing an English and Journalism degree from the University of the Philippines Diliman, he aims to bring interesting news to our readers .