Autonomy Reviews

Former Employee – worked at Autonomy

Pros – - Good benefits package (health, dental, etc.)
- Core technology is solid
- Decent stock option grants for select few

**Very well-oiled separation process when you quit***

Cons – - Megalomaniacal management
- Terrible, unpredictable bonus plan for many employees
- Generous use of FIBCAMM (Fear and Intimidation-Based Computer-Aided Micro Management)
- Growth through acquisition w/little understanding of businesses acquired
- Steady loss of talent and intellectual capital in units outside core business
- Financial success in spite of myriad flaws has convinced management there's no need to change or adapt

Advice to Senior Management – Doesn't matter--they don't want, wouldn't heed it, and would never accept it for what it is--honest feedback. They are likely very proud of the fact that Autonomy has the worst rating of any company on this site--proof that only the fittest will survive. So be it.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

Former Employee – worked at Autonomy

Pros – Free sodas,
Ocasional free lunch
Sales Kickoff meeting is in Miami
Travel?
Nice offices

Cons – Sales management process consumes a lot of time--but spent actually selling
No performance reviews
No raises
Compensation plans are over-engineered and stacked to be in Autonomy's favor

Advice to Senior Management – Hire competent management, who knows how to train, motivate and retain people.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

Current Employee – been working at Autonomy

Pros – Management knows the way to get the best profit for the company. Great sales force that gets the products sold to the customers.

Cons – Non-Silicon Valley working culture. One way communication from the top. Recognition is minimal. No performance review. Employees are not shared with the company direction and vision. Upper management doesn't seem to be interested in employee feedback. Employees are assigned with tasks as it goes and told to work on them with no question asked, and yet, direction changes often and is confusing.

Advice to Senior Management – Besides selling the product, spend some time to listen more to all employee feedback.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

Current Employee – been working at Autonomy

Pros – The technology is very interesting
Company founders continue to invest large sums into R&D
Financial results reflect a wide market acceptance for product offerings
Little to no real competition

Cons – Very poor work environment
Account management is ... just bring me the deals no matter what territory or product line
Account management is ... Do your five visits a week and 2 proposals and you are a good AE otherwise expect to be openly harrassed in front of sales team during weekly sales calls
If you enjoy micro-management then this is the place to work

Advice to Senior Management – Strategies that worked so well at the start-up phase are no longer applicable as a global software player. Company can be doing 5x more revenue if current Senior Management is replaced by capable professionals that know from experience how to run a global software company.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

Former Employee – worked at Autonomy

Pros – The view from the San Francisco office. Free lunch on Fridays is also ok.

Cons – All strategic decisions are made by a small group of people in th UK and never shared with the rest of the company. There is no such thing as a pay raise, with employees promised "discretionary" bonuses that are only delivered after threats to quit. Sales people have to adhere to stringent help generating new leads. Existing customers are generally very unhappy and instead of fixing the technology, the strategy seems to be to put a band-aid on at each customer issue with promises of longer-term fixes that never seem to materialize.

Advice to Senior Management – Empower people outside the inner circle to make decisions. Stop using fear to motivate employees. Focus on creating a consistent installation process to increase the customer satisfaction.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

Current Employee – been working at Autonomy

Pros – -Good benefits
- Atleast people I work with day to day are nice ,helpful and kowledgeable
-Great customers and oppurtunity to learn customer interaction.

Cons – -No feedback about performance, no reviews
-No raises, no communication regarding career path
-No promotions
- No growth
- It is hard to keep giving your best when you are not getting anything back.

Advice to Senior Management – -Pay attention to employees and their needs.
- Decentralize the control. Currently too much remote controlling going on from headquarters.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

Former Employee – worked at Autonomy

Pros – If you can bring business , the compensation is good

Cons – Customer support, customer satisfaction are not good,
Repeat sales is difficult as customers are often unhappy
Do not expect much from marketing for leads
Territories are not defined
Significant turnover of sales folks. It appears like sales folks are hired for their contacts for business and forced to leave after all possible business has been extracted from those contacts

Advice to Senior Management – Build a brand though marketing and get some good leads for the sales. Spends more on keeping existing customers happy.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

Current Employee – been working at Autonomy

Pros – average benefits; convenient location (soon to change); nice revenue growth (but no profit sharing or trickle down tow employees)

Cons – Never work for a company where the management told people at a location they are toxic and would not allow new hire to work there.
No performance review, but people are fired for "performance reasons" at discretion of management with few hours notice -- apparently done every 6 months.
No salary review -- instead people are told they will received "sky bonus" at discretion of management.

Advice to Senior Management – You say you want to hire best and brightest -- then give them a reason to work there

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

Current Employee – been working at Autonomy

Pros – Strong technology
Growing company
Free food on Fridays

Cons – No annual reviews which means no annual raise
Expectation to work all of the time
No work life balance

Advice to Senior Management – Hire more people and distribute the work load. Treat employees with more respect and you'll reap the rewards of a happy workforce.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

Current Employee – been working at Autonomy

Pros – Tremendous company growth to the point of a startup feel. Aggressive senior management that knows how to pursue deals and market and create technically capable products. Technically superior products.

Cons – The focus on employees takes a distant back seat to the focus on growing the company. Employees are burnt out, recognition and compensation and emphasis on training is generally poor or a mixed bag. There is no real emphasis on creating a working environment where people would want to be. Empowerment and support by upper management to middle management is generally poor.

Advice to Senior Management – Show more appreciation to your employees particularly the ones killing themselves to make you successful at all levels.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend