Pros
- leading engineers and engineering practices - strong delivery capabilities, delivery models, delivery people - when they were growing, there were good opportunities to gain experience in different projects and to relocate to other countries
Cons
- not innovative, not creative despite having consultancies for design, product, strategy - they don't lead or develop markets - they grew fast previously because they are best at what they do and clients were discovering that - but once demand is satisfied, EPAM will need to make the transition from fast growth (with value) to value (with slow growth) - they are best at engineering, so they wait for engineering demand from their customers - in current economic conditions, they are cutting people who are not billable - we were told that there are other plays in the playbook, such as acting more like startups in some aspects, but the only actual play they know how to execute on is cutting - do not believe in marketing or have a product mindset - although they have consultants for helping clients develop products and markets, EPAM doesn't know how to do it themselves - many senior managers grew up through the ranks, so how EPAM works is heavily influenced by how they work, which is heavily influenced by their experience in EPAM - company is so good at engineering, they approach all problems as engineering problems e.g. sales proposals are like an engineer given the task of selling a Ferrari