STR reviews

The culture and company that was created by the owners, Randy and Carolyn, has been slowly whittled away and turned into your standard cookie-cutter corporate environment -- chocked full of politics, cliques, and gossip groups. No room for career growth, unless you are in the right cliques. No incentive to stay year after year, aside from job security. Unless a 2-4% annual pay raise is enough. I was told by a manager in another department that reviewers are told specifically not to give any 5/5 reviews, even if they are perfect...managers are expected to find something to take away from their efforts and dedication. Promotes educational advancement, but limits the venues to local only -- seeking to go to conferences such as BUILD is frowned upon. The individual(s) driving internal architecture do not truly understand the capabilities of today's development tools, frameworks, and community. Winforms and report developers should not be making calls about web architecture. The knowledge and skillets of each focus area are acquired over years and years, and they are not all universal. Often locked into MS-only solutions, instead of seeking the right tool(s) for the job. Individuals that speak their mind and suggest change that is not in line with the "standard" are alienated, stripped of responsibilities, and treated like "that guy"...all because they cared enough about their job to suggest change and offer a potentially better path. Just because an idea is not understood, does not mean it is always wrong. The business will continue to grow and thrive, but he company will lose itself in the process.

No skilled management for IT, no IT understanding from upper management, lots of pressure to perform with little understanding on any level about how software development process works. Unwilling to work with developers to better understand processes. Reliant on consultants who don't understand tech any better than management.