Pros
It is a good place to get started in IT Software and Sales. Specifically, the relationship with IBM and the Websphere product line is heavily promoted. If you can encourage the management to have you trained in the IBM software sales process, you are off to a good start. You will have the freedom and independence to be as successful in your market as your ability allows. The middle management in the Sales team is competent and aggressive. The CEO is very articulate and represents himself and the company well. After the initial training, you need to be committed to your professional growth as your interactions with the management team is a fast paced information exchange aimed at identifying every opportunity in your market and client base without wasting words or becoming too philosophical about an account or opportunity.
Cons
The practice heads seem to be spread extremely thin and as such they tend to be poor listeners and have tendency to jump to conclusions. Some of this is simply an overzealous attitude toward capitalizing on every opportunity. However, as a BDM, you need to ensure that they stay focused on listening and diplomatically steer the conversations so that it doesn't become an information dump that has no relevancy to the prospective client. The practice team members AND management specifically complain incessantly about compensation and workload until you simply become numb to the dissatisfaction with their jobs. None of this is obviously expressed to the leadership. And, when the CEO is focused on other matters the sense of purpose and urgency is nonexistent. I honestly have no idea what these teams are experiencing on a daily basis when the leadership is present and focused on the results they are delivering. But they certainly phone it in when no one is watching. Recruiting is not nearly as aggressive as the the rest of the teams here and they act as though they either lack the tools or training to be an effective part of the equation and that you should be aware that this handicap exists. It is odd that every other team shares their specialty and contact information. Yet, once the requirements reach recruiting, it's as if it has entered the "black hole" of opportunities and you never know what result you will receive.
