Vedoe Leaves Apple, PowerSchool (Again)


Cheryl Vedoe, Apple's PowerSchool chief, has left to take up a position as CEO of Apex Learning, according to eWeek.

As IGM reported earlier this week, PowerSchool was reorganized in June this year, following reports that the latest PowerSchool software was buggy and insuffiently directed towards the individual needs of schools.

Vedoe was persuaded to return to Apple in 2000 by Steve Jobs, to head up the reorganization of Apple's Education division. Vedoe had previously worked at Apple under CEO Gil Amelio. The shakeup of Apple's Ed division resulted in the loss of sales leadership to Dell Computer, which now leads the market in the volume of machines sold to schools.

Vedoe was moved to PowerSchool upon Apple's acquisition of the company with a brief, as eWeek reports, to establish a "FileMaker Inc."-type organization, as Jobs reportedly said in a corporate memo.

No replacement for Vedoe has been announced.

Analysis: The PowerSchool saga goes on. But let me just take a parting shot a Cheryl Vedoe. If Steve Wood's View from the Classroom column is any indication, Apple Ed is losing ground to Dell and Wintel more generally - fast. Around half Dell's shipments in Q1 this year, if IDC's figures are correct.

Can one seriously state that Vedoe made a difference at Apple, whether under Amelio or Jobs, except to preside over the disintegration of one of Apple's core markets? The reorganization in 2000; the introduction of great products like eMac and iBook seemed to make virtually no difference to Apple's education market penetration.

We can see the real differences people like Tevanian, Anderson and Ive have made at Apple. But surely Steve can do better than Vedoe. In this deflated, post-dot.com economy, there must be some education guru out there who can really make sales happen. Filemaker Inc. is a focused and successful company making inroads into the Wintel market (and elsewhere). Why PowerSchool hasn't managed to be successful for Apple is beyond us. And, let's face it, the buck stops with the CEO.