Business Objects Reviews in San Jose, CA Area

Former Employee – worked at Business Objects full-time for more than 7 years

Pros – Worked with one of the best teams.
Spirit was very high each day.
Customers are prime!

Cons – Nothing that I saw was negative, management was always with customers and employees.

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

Former Employee – worked at Business Objects

Pros – There are good people working for the company. Since it is original a French company, it provides opportunties to gain international experiences. The company does focus on community involment. Benefit is good with matching 401K program, stock option, Employee Stock Purchase Plan,...

Cons – Salary is average compared to other similar companies. High turn over in the sales team. The market that Business Objects in is very competitive. Limited growth opportunity.

Advice to Senior Management – Provide frequent communcation and share more information.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

Former Employee – worked at Business Objects

Pros – They have great benefits and hire a lot of smart people.

Cons – Since the SAP acquisition, the place has really gone down the drain. Business Objects was never a perfect place to work, but it was pretty good before SAP purchased the company. SAP is extremely secretive. Throughout the year, waves of lay-offs in various parts of the company were never addressed by senior leadership. You heard through word of mouth--usually by knowing someone in a group that had lay-offs. SAP replaced all of Business Objects customer facing systems and processes, then refused to accept any responsibility for declines in customer satisfaction and sales. I heard one senior manager address this in a group setting by saying "we let you run as a separate company for the rest of the year precisely so you couldn't blame us for this stuff". At the rate at which people are being laid off or leaving voluntarily, I would expect the Business Objects product quality to drop as its revenue increases in the next few years. Many people in leadership positions at SAP seem to view their customers as nearly a captive audience. The Business Objects product may lure in a few customers, but it mostly seems to be something else they can coerce existing customers into spending money on.

Advice to Senior Management – Business Objects success came because of its people. Our "enterprise lock-in" came about through creating a great product that customers didn't want to give up. They weren't locked in because they'd spent too much money to abandon ship. I once thought the SAP acquisition would be the end of an independent Business Intelligence sector. As I see former Business Objects (and Crystal) people fleeing for smaller B.I. and analytics software companies, I realize that's not the case. Poor personnel management has probably planted the seeds for a half dozen small,but innovative competitors to emerge.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

Current Employee – been working at Business Objects

Pros – Business Objects provides a great benefits package. The software is in demand. The skills you learn here are valuable. Once you get the experience at Business Objects, customers will pay top dollar for those skills if you want to work as a contractor. There are a lot of great people who work in the trenches.

Cons – SAP. SAP. SAP. SAP has ruined our support site. They've ruined many of our internal systems. They are a company that puts process and protecting one's own turf over common sense and getting the job done well. If the last few months are an indication of the future, Business Objects will no longer be the great place to work that it once was. Our leadership wants things to look good on paper regardless of how they look in the real world.

Advice to Senior Management – All of the things that made Business Objects a market leader are being cast aside. The culture that produced innovative products and passionate, dedicated field employees is being eroded swiftly under SAP's ownership. We're no longer an organization. We're just a product. Were it not for the current state of the job market, you would see people fleeing this place like rats from a sinking ship.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

Current Employee – been working at Business Objects

Pros – Global business with opportunities to work around the world. Generous vacation benefit since the SAP acquisition.

Cons – Career growth and compensation are hit or miss. Some will experience no career growth and sub-par compensation even after years of excellent performance reviews.

Advice to Senior Management – The annual performance review system is not working. The disparity in salaries and titles depends partly on tenure, personality and circumstance but seemingly not at all on performance. This is starting to feel like a government job.

Current Employee – been working at Business Objects

Pros – A very relaxed atmosphere. Good benefits and for the most part you are not micro-manged. The company is fairly good at recognizing employees and making sure that there is a balance between work and home life.

Cons – The company is currently undergoing an integration with SAP. All the problems one would expect are now popping up.

Advice to Senior Management – Listen to the voice of the people on the front line. Overall management at BO is good. There is a sense that they do care about the organization and the people that work in it.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

Current Employee – been working at Business Objects

Pros – The people you work with are passionate about what they do. Every day you are challenged and learning something new. The physical office environment is open and encourages collaboration.

Cons – The integration has brought a lot of uncertainty. People are being laid off when they said there would not be people laid off. People are unsure about their jobs.

Advice to Senior Management – Be open and honest with employees throughout integration.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

Former Employee – worked at Business Objects

Pros – Great people network around the world
All the place I've been working was really well furnished.
High end product, usage of many inovative features
Ability to work in many place
Their customer satifaction is another good idea
This company is also well known to pay above average salaries.

Cons – The recent acquisition which will become another so big company with no leadership
Some unconstructible management decisions from the last 2 years
Do not have enough communication for their product, at least in Europe
Their current strategy isn't as clear at it was when they dealed with only BI customer, now with customs solutions for various domain (HR, banking), it is harder to have a good vision of all their product.

Advice to Senior Management – Regular developper could have very good idea of the market, it is not exclusive or analyst or gartner chart!

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

Former Employee – worked at Business Objects

Pros – The work ethics of my peers and the way that employees used to be treated. Compensation was fair and there was a clear understanding of the importance of personal development.

Cons – Lack of honest communication from Senior Management and clear articlulation of the future of the company. Change management component of the acquisition was/continues to be an abysmal failure. Also, some of the EMEA management team lacks and understanding of the way to effectively manage in a global setting which leads to an us against them mentality.

Advice to Senior Management – Be honest...trust your employees...they are smarter than you give them credit for. Don't let people make it up because they don't have a clue what is going on.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

Former Employee – worked at Business Objects

Pros – Knowledgeable and helpful team.
Collegial environment (depending on what group you are in).
Getting involved in projects outside of your domain is encouraged.
Now part of SAP (helps with "brand recognition" value for resume).
Very good benefits (French origins contribute to that)

Cons – Uncertainty associated with acquisition by SAP.
Senior management was not very communicative after the SAP acquisition was announced.
Certain departments not particularly accommodating to alternative or flexible work schedules

Advice to Senior Management – Overcommunicate. There was an interview in yesterday's Wall St. Journal with AT&T Wireless' leader, and this was the word he used to describe what the most important thing management can do during an acquisition. At Business Objects, after the SAP acquisition, rumors abounded and were permitted to fester (and still do). That's why the leadership needs to overcommunicate about what's going on with the acquisition.