Compuware Reviews in Detroit, MI Area

Pros

Support staff is somewhat helpful - speak English fluently, unlike other employers who outsourced support to offshore places

Cons

Company has archaic reimbursement policies, e.g. reimbursement for using my car for company business is less than what I pay for gas + oil + depreciation; When not traveling for business, management expects you in the office from 8-5 despite the fact that you left town Sunday at noon and got back home last night after midnight. Attempts to find other jobs within the company are viewed as disloyal. 401k and retirement is a joke. Management blames employees for its mistakes.

Advice to Senior Management

CEO should retire and let someone with vision take this company into the future.

Pros

Great building, nice people to work, I have no complaints about management, free parking in Detroit downtown, Hard Rock Caffe and few other stores on the same building, along with nice Fitness Center (but paid), New Horizons (Day Care) facility inside the building as well, closed to everything in downtown ...

Cons

No tuition reinbursement, no 401k match, 2 weeks of vacation during first 5 years, not well structured training process (lag on training), telecomute available but very restricted... old fashion view

Advice to Senior Management

Be more supportive to the employees, especially in areas related to professional development and project intiatives, needs to improve morale.

Pros

Great potential with products and services.

Cons

Too set in monolithic ways, lack of agility and modern IT business practices. Very much a "old girls" network. Promises continually made, promised continually broken regarding opportunities for compensation and career advancement. Old timers carry all the clout and don't seem to be open to innovation - "not invented here" syndrome. Organization is totally strangled by Finance and HR, not a Sales driven environment.

Advice to Senior Management

Get a clue. Facilitate the growth with better compensation to drive the needed behavior - more sales. Too much process and lack of innovation to for business process improvement.

Pros

Respect for employees.
Good atmosphere.
Well known, Good name on resume.

Cons

Not competitive and fast enough in obtaining projects for their consultants.

Advice to Senior Management

Have to be aggressive in capturing projects.

Pros

Good salary. Good Mid-level managers. Decent benefits.

Cons

Sr. Management hasn't done anything exiciting to rock this company. There was campaign which compuware 2.0 took on recently...but hasn't changed the company a bit.

Advice to Senior Management

Be considerate to the employees...profit margins are good..but valuing employees make that company apart from the herd.

Pros

Great place to work had alot of amenities to balance work/family and social life in house gym cafe laundry and a few shops...

Cons

The are isnt all that great especially since moving from farmington but it isnt all that bad either quite a few bums will harrass you every now and then, but other than that I think the direction the company is going in is good.

Advice to Senior Management

I didnt like the the way things happened when they gave the former mayor of detroit a position down in dallas i think alot of people didnt like what was going on at the time espcially since the job market was very Iffy.

Pros

Best reasons to work at Compuware
- Good, market leading products
- Large customer base
- Only known IT company in Michigan
- Good pay package

Cons

Downsides of working at Compuware
- Clueless leadership
- Company neither to big or too small, stuck in middle mentality
- Zero career advancement opportunities
- No options/support for further studies, enhancing skills

Advice to Senior Management

Compuware has to look at where it wants to be in 2, 5, 10 years. The leadership is completely unaware of what customers are asking for. The company has to create an culture for career enhancements, opportunities for growth for everyone. Many people are stuck in the same place for 5, 10, 15 years and they don't bring any new ideas.

Pros

People are very professional
They treat you like a person, not a number
Good benefits for industry
Depending on project, there might be very interesting work

Cons

Professional Services - Lacks good organization as a Consulting Organization
Lacks repeatable processes and global methodologies

Advice to Senior Management

Get some top-of-the-line practice directors from a top-of-the-line consulting company. This will increase the chance of success in becoming a world-class consulting company.

Pros

Interesting and challenging work in the Vantage product technology group. Great co-workers and lots of things to learn and do. The commute downtown is not too bad since there is little traffic. The wellness center and company cafeteria are very nice.

Cons

Constant cut-backs and layoffs across the company make it a downer. Senior management is CYA oriented and has little credibility with the rank and file. Until Peter Karmanos leaves the company can never be fixed. And he continues to pull millions out every year, with no sign of letting the reigns go.

Advice to Senior Management

Get honest about the competition and take steps to get growth by addressing execution issues. Buying companies then eventually losing their employees is not going to work.

Pros

Good benefits, although increasing co-pays as the years have gone by
Professional atmosphere
Service options in the community for all employees

Cons

No room for advancement or any career path
New company-wide strategies every year or two, with old ones forgotten
Upper management unaware of who are the productive people in the company
You're ignored if you work at a client site vs. at the HQ building
Policies stuck in the '70s
Poor communication to employees and implied threats to not rock the boat

Advice to Senior Management

This isn't Pete's private company, but a public one and should be run with a specific customer focus and all employees should be heard from--even if they contradict the direction of the company.