IBM Reviews in Boston, MA Area

Pros

Freedom to innovate. No micro-management. Very good work-life balance. At the end of the day, it all depends on the manager you work for.

Cons

Very hard to influence any decision making at any level. A lot of processes in place which is understandable for such a large company. However, they slowdown your work.A lot of time is spent adhering to policies OR following training on policies.
There is system for every little thing that you need to do and it takes time to learn who to contact for what and then the time to actually get the task done.

Advice to Senior Management

The company has been run very well and is now in great hands. If possible, it would be nice to see reduction in processes and administrative ovehead.

Pros

Great processes and breadth of knowledge in the company. Many online communities to help find your way. Great sense of belonging, and simple vision and value proposition!

Cons

Too large and somemtimes not personal. A bit too beurocratic, and if you don't have the support of upper management, you could get lost.

Advice to Senior Management

Find ways of reducing the levels of beurocracy and break down the barriers for innovation and progress on smaller accounts.

Pros

Good work life balance
Big name
Stable blue chip company

Cons

Poor compensation
Poor promotion opportunities
Stratified work culture

Advice to Senior Management

Improve job satisfaction
Improve employee morale

Pros

Stable company with many opportunities to do other things

Cons

IBM has a unique corporate culture. You either fit it or you don't

Advice to Senior Management

Use the tools you own to make IBM a "smarter" company

Pros

Very talented team mates doing exciting work.
IBM offers a great deal of flexibility to work balance work and home life.

Cons

Limited opportunities to move ahead. Very competitive for small salary increase.

Pros

Flexible working environment. Can work from home 1-2 days per week.

Cons

Management just doesn't care about employees. Treat software developers as interchangeable.

Pros

Opportuinty to grow and development. Access to subject matter experts and thought leaders.

Cons

If your company is acquired by IBM, just continue to keep an open mind

Advice to Senior Management

Create mentorship programs for newly acquired companies and partnerships across similar departments to expedite learning.

Pros

Opportunities for advancement are fairly good. It's a large company with alot of options. Management is fairly good and people are nice

Cons

Commute is too long. Politics like in any other organization is an ongoing issue. It's a large organization so there is less opportunity for autonomy and creativity.

Advice to Senior Management

Foster creativity and allow the freedom to implement changes in an expited manner. Listen to your employees and place your emphasis there.

Pros

Consistently excellent colleagues and teamwork mentality. Robust infrastructure, extremely huge intranet, and generally great management. Great work environment. I feel safe and able to do my work. Everyone is busy and productive here--and some people are truly remarkable.

Cons

Career development can be challenging, especially because there is too much to do and sometimes not enough interest in how to best utilize talent. Opportunities for career exploration and side projects are well-advertised within the company, but difficult to execute on a general engineer/technical staff level. Especially if you want to grow skills in a slightly different technical area. However, this is perhaps inherent for all large companies.

Advice to Senior Management

Provide opportunities for employees to bypass regular management (and straight to HR or in-house career specialists) to discuss career development and career changes.

Pros

IBM has a great internal process of career planning goals and objectives and continually monitors what you have accomplished and can help you establish career steps to reach your career goals.

Cons

Too much 'process'. They have a database for every project related or financial need you have.

Advice to Senior Management

Streamline some of the employee's data entry processes currently required for documenting projects and expense requirements.