Pros
Some good people to work with. Flexible hours. Probably the most clever MSSQL database architects and developers outside of Microsoft itself. Pay was good.
Cons
This is specific to Systems organization: - Too heavily reliant on closed source technology (ie. Microsoft/VMWare). - Completely refuses to use modern software architecture. No cloud-based technology. No open source technology. AWS, Azure, Docker, Kubernetes? Never heard of them. - No innovation and no hopes to build technical skills to further career. - Most engineers wouldn't know what a 12-factor app was if one fell out of the sky, landed on their face and started to wiggle. - Purchased horrible software platform riddled with technical debt and wedged it into their already ancient software platform. - In 2016 attempted to layoff half the Systems org and ramp up development in India with inferior engineers. Eventually gave them keys to the kingdom while telling domestic engineer's there jobs were safe. - Product Management (Sales?) - Commits Systems engineers to unrealistic schedules and unmaintainable products. - Employs no business analysts. - Sprints were 4-6 weeks long. - Morale is at all time low. - Culture in the department lends itself to talking smack behind peoples backs.
