Accelrys Reviews

Current Employee – been working at Accelrys full-time for more than 10 years

Pros – Amazing people and dynamic environment

Cons – Some people can take the pace

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend – I'm optimistic about the outlook for this company

Current Employee – been working at Accelrys full-time for more than 10 years

Pros – A lot of smart and dedicated people; bold vision and decisive strategies.

Cons – It has grown too big too fast without proper integration. A lot of waste and sloppy work; not much attention to details. Management doesn't (have time to) pay much attention to employee morale.

Advice to Senior Management – People and quality work are the key to success in the long run.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

Current Employee – been working at Accelrys full-time

Pros – Our company got acquired by Accelrys

Cons – Lacks in motivating people to be more than 9-5 employees

Advice to Senior Management – Motivate people better

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend – I'm optimistic about the outlook for this company

Former Employee – worked at Accelrys full-time for more than 10 years

Pros – Accelrys is a scientific software company with a powerful platform, a fairly diverse application stack, and a lot of talented employees. It's still a pretty good place to work but things have changed (some would say for the worse) in recent years as the company struggles to grow to the next level, become a player in the enterprise arena, and invent the field of scientific business intelligence - a term created by Accelrys execs to describe the business area that they believe they dominate.

Cons – The recent emphasis on electronic lab notebooks, enterprise software, and processes have diverted resources, reduced efficiencies, and lowered morale in several areas of the company. The quality of the software is reduced when seasoned and skilled developers are treated as interchangeable, plug-and-play bit coders and development schedules are increasingly driven by the calendar rather than by quality. Recent mergers and exec turnover have diluted / muddled corporate culture and values

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

Former Employee – worked at Accelrys full-time for more than a year

Pros – Location
Products
People-Intelligent scientists and software engineers

Cons – Some products are highly complex.
They are in dire need of top marketing/sales folks to position their products.
Some of the folks in the management team are completely clueless, and the management keeps changing. The executive recruiting folks hiring the management team are perhaps inexperienced themselves!!

Advice to Senior Management – Focus on a company that can acquire Accelrys.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend – I'm not optimistic about the outlook for this company

Current Employee – been working at Accelrys full-time for more than 10 years

Pros – Terrific people, all committed to making great products. Good scientists, very open atmosphere for discussions etc. Company looks after people quite well, lots of events/things going on. Good mix of scientists and engineers, very young and driven workforce. Very international too.

Cons – Have to find 20 words - not easy. It is a great place!

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend – I'm optimistic about the outlook for this company

Current Employee – been working at Accelrys full-time

Pros – Excellent work environment. Close knit community of scientists within the company and very helpful.

Cons – Better compensation is required. The pay-raise is in not commensurate with the increasing job responsibilities and experience.

Former Employee – worked at Accelrys

Pros – ACCL is the world's largest life science software company (or at least they make that claim) and if what you're looking for then this might be the right place for you.

Cons – Working for a publicly held company isn't all it's cracked up to be. Accelrys' strategy is to grow through M&A (they are sitting on a ton of cash) and management doesn't seem to make any efforts to integrate new acquisitions with the existing product line in a way that makes sense. Legacy companies/divisions are extremely territorial and protective of their turf and often unwilling to help out others. Even at HQ in San Diego, there are turf battles between biz opps, marketing, sales, services and support.

Advice to Senior Management – Don't be afraid to hire managers who can make tough decisions. Paralysis analysis is crippling ACCL and it won't get better as long as your managers feels like everything is being second guessed up the chain. Managers and employees need clear goals (and incentives that support those goals) and a careful balance between Responsibilities, Accountability and the Authority to make things happen. Good luck!

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

Current Employee – been working at Accelrys

Pros – Accelrys offers many products across many disciplines.

Cons – Management could use more scientific leadership.

Current Employee – been working at Accelrys

Pros – Lots of great customers with a global footprint
Stable and a money maker
Not a cut throat environment
Growing both organically and through M/A.

Cons – Too much of a focus on Science and not enough in other areas.
Slow to take up new technologies internally and within products.

Advice to Senior Management – Be better listeners and follow up on feedback. Provide more career guidance and opportunities to those looking to move up in their career versus waiting for them to leave.