OpenTV Reviews

Pros

On the cutting edge of television broadcast technology, OpenTV is an exciting and rewarding place to work.

Cons

The recent acquisition of OpenTV by international media conglomerate has caused some instability in upper management.

Pros

1) Ok Salary and Bonus
2) Not too hectic work day
3)

Cons

1) redundancies every 2-3 years!
2) no product plan
3) extinct software, being sold again and again
4) does too little too late.
5) people become managers only because of tenure, not because of skill sets - the end result is a badly managed show!

Advice to Senior Management

Buckle up for a rough ride!

Pros

The people. Everyone I worked directly with who was not in senior management were wonderful to work with.

Cons

Senior management can't make solid decision. They even admitted to making mistakes with product road mapping. But rather than taking corrective action they continue to travel down the wrong road.

Advice to Senior Management

Sr mgment needs to learn to be honest and up front.

Pros

good team, good support, now that part of a global media company, good chances of internal growth as well as job stability.

Cons

communication need to improve; waiting to move to the new location

Advice to Senior Management

engineering management is improving but need to communicate direction and strategy

Pros

no more things need to do , a good place for beadhouse.

Cons

commnuication are too bad in OpenTV beijing office.

Advice to Senior Management

not a place need to worked for.

Pros

Great location in the city, very lax environment, don't need to do much.

Cons

Company going nowhere, lots of politics, no spirit of innovation. Lots of lifers collecting checks.

Advice to Senior Management

Encourage innovation to stay relevant in the field. Reward performance. Encourage communication. Close some deals to build on early innovations.

Pros

There are a lot of good people who have good experience and expertise and when you can get their time will be very helpful. The company does treat its employees well and in general its a good work environment developing software in a interesting area.

Cons

The company always felt bigger than it was and was too political for its size. Too many individual groups were going in their own direction with their own agenda, resulting too many duplications of efforts. There is a lot of expertise and experience throughout the company but people are often too focused on the immediate projects and goals to be able to help. Too much work is done with the a short goal in mind at the cost of long term productivity and improvement.

Advice to Senior Management

When I was there there was a lot of discussion of OpenTV being a product development company, but all too often what I would see developed was only what customers would agree to pay for in advance. As a result the company ends up more acting like a professional services organization, implementing to spec as opposed to being ahead of the market and designing product that would be needed in the future. This has led at times to products/projects not being started until they are sold, and then there being a rush to complete and a re-enforcement of the developing

Both models are (product and professional services) valid, but lead to very different organizations. If OpenTV really wants to be a successful product development company, then it needs to be able to understand its customers business and successfully define and develop products that the market needs and wants so that the they are ready before the customer needs them.

Pros

Pride in the product, great engineering teamwork. There are some of the very experienced and talented digital television engineers working at the company. You can learn alot about technology working at the company and with these people.

Cons

There is little chance for advancement. Since the company is still struggling to make a profit, money is always tight. This limits growth opportunities for the company, and hence the employees.
The multiple changes in CEOs, moving to SF from Mtn. View, lack of clear product specs and project management, feeds the perception of poor executive vision and leadership.
There is a steady stream of maintenance issues that engineers need to work on, it is not all new product feature work.
The individual groups at OpenTV are very separated, there is not enough learning and idea exchanging going on between the teams.

Advice to Senior Management

The middle management of OpenTV may be misrepresenting what is being built, by whom, and how it is going. Be sure and get to know some of the individual contributors so you can verify the truth and the culture.