IMS Health Reviews

Pros

Leadership and management opportunities are there for the taking.

Cons

Time off and work-life balance is difficult

Pros

Interesting, stimulating, flexible schedule, changing

Cons

management disconnect. Job loss resulting in loss work integrity

Pros

Seems there's always a party. There is great concern for everyone being happy and having an afternoon treat, and little concern for how well they do their job. Great place to work if you need to run out five times a week to take your kid somewhere.

Cons

Long term employees with the most knowledge have been let go and replaced by low cost and low quality imports. English is a second language. Management is more interested in creating their own little fiefdoms than in running and supporting the organization. Power is everything, especially at the VP level. IMS does not (ever) improve from within, they just continue to buy other organizations. Clients constantly (and justifiably) complain about data issues.

Advice to Senior Management

If the economy should improve, there will be no one left who even knows how to turn on the lights. It's too late.

Pros

IMS Health is a global organization in a growing market.

Cons

IMS Health is a global organization in a growing, yet inconsistent, market.

Pros

The office is filled with friendly employees who tend to help each other out
Uppers are genuinely nice and would take up responsibilities
Renowned in the industry
Comfortable working hours with flex time and summer holiday

Cons

Mediocre Pay
Management displays inconsistent and evasive communication style
It could be tough if you are assigned to a demanding client

Pros

Senior management (Directors) very caring with an added human aspect.

Very generous with Holidays, Snow Days and Sick Days.

Senior management (Directors), very involved with the safety and well-being of employees

Cons

Could not make up time taken off for personal reasons (Doctor's Appointments, Emergencies etc)
All time-off, even if it was 15 minutes had to be deducted from personal or vacation time.

Non-Flexible lunch time (which relates to above)

Middle Management sometimes aloof. i.e. if you sat next to certain managers, a whole week would go by without getting a simple Hello or Good Morning.

Middle Management tended to overact to anything that even remotely resembled gossip, even if it wasn't meant as such. Incidents were addressed in an unnecessary disciplinary fashion.

Favortism between Middle Management and certain employees was too obvious.

More often than not the small things negatives were always pointed out more rather than the large positives

Advice to Senior Management

None

Pros

The technical team is awesome. Several business folk were really good to work with too.

Cons

This is a technical company that has no idea how to run a technical project. They don't want to hear any feedback regarding technical dependencies of the various pieces of the project, or really any feedback at all for that matter. The business makes decisions without any communication with the technical teams, but still expects the technical team to implement whimsical changes on the fly (in production no less). The project managers are the worst I have ever worked with and are leading the projects into disaster. There is no way this place will ever produce viable software. They are an analytics company, their business revolves around data and reporting of data, but the business stakeholders have no respect at all for the importance of their database architecture and the technical complexity of the things they are asking for. The technical team is awesome. Several business folk were really good to work with too but the people running the projects make it impossible to work here since you know the projects are bound to fail.

Advice to Senior Management

Open communication channels with the technical side. They want to architect solid solutions, you have to give them the tools to do so.

Pros

There is a great deal of information, knowledge within the IMS data assets. You can learn a lot about Pharma and products. Your peers are usually very friendly and competent. Benefits are good. This is a good place to learn & leverage to your next employer.

Cons

Unfortunately management doesn't clearly communicate the strategy, leaving the employees and customers to guess. They are trying to change the value of IMS into a Consulting firm leaving the data assets in the dust. Morale is very low as many are concerned for their jobs, targets are tenured /talented go-to employees. Use them, then lose them is the mantra.
Customers are highly regarded however the new strategy will not support their day to day business.

Advice to Senior Management

Please communicate the true business strategy. Rather than using smoke and mirrors by saying we are streamlining our operations/products (in order to keep key employees and customers until you don't want them) be upfront and let people make an informed choice. Please use our customer base to provide some strategy direction as the US marketplace is very different than Europe. Transforming from secondary market intell to consulting will take years with much collateral damage and limited chance of success if customers are not involved.

Pros

Good salary, benefits, work-life balance

Cons

rewards system can be punitive, senior management does not understand limitations on the "ground"

Advice to Senior Management

Be more positive, communicate better, understand the growth models before indiscriminately buying up companies

Pros

The company continues to be the market leader in its space.
There is plenty of work to do for the people who are able to keep their jobs.

Cons

New ownership and management are moving quickly on changes that may not work in the long term... lots of cost reductions and job eliminations

Advice to Senior Management

Many knowledgeable managers believe that the new management does not value the experience and insights of long-term employees... you don't know it all, it is a complicated business... respect and learn from the people that made the company successful