McAfee – “McAfee is a company that would cut off a limb in half a second to make the quarterly earnings.”

Pros

Perceived leader in the security space. Some very good and even great products. Innovation through acquisition, so high growth/energy and always change. Good experiences with product engineering, support and consulting.

Cons

Sales leadership is 100% coin operated. Zero interest in excuses, just sell, doesn't matter if there is a customer fit, just make the sale. Market strategy is convoluted and broken for many business units. Channel conflict all over the place. Sales Ops is painful (getting quotes approved, orders booked).

Advice to Senior Management

Build a sales compensation plan that actually drives teamwork and positive reinforcement. Stick with a comp plan for more than a year at a time, without drastically changing the rules. Try some organic innovation for a change, you can build sometimes - you don't ALWAYS have to buy your way into a new market.