Sun Microsystems Reviews

Current Employee – been working at Sun Microsystems

Pros – The work-life flexibility is great -- as long as the job gets done, no one will be breathing down your neck or checking timesheets to see how late you got in or how early you left. The chance to work with some really brilliant people -- unlike the management hierarchy, even if you are the lowliest pleb, if you are smart and know what you're talking about, the senior technical folks will be willing to share knowledge and discuss issues with you. The opportunity to learn about technology -- lots of neat things happen at Sun, you can always jump into a "virtual team" (in your own time) and contribute and learn lots.

Cons – Management incompetence, a lack of leadership, some technical careers will result in a career plateau -- it is, for example, very difficult to move to the "next level" when you reach the top Tech Support level.

Advice to Senior Management – Execute well, listen to your employees, focus on customer satisfaction, don't chase the short term dollar but instead focus on building the company up to last through the long term.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

Current Employee – been working at Sun Microsystems

Pros – Fantastic technology company with great vision. In the past innovation and contrarian thinking has been rewarded and respected. If you have a great idea you almost always have the ability to develop it further. Long term I like to think that we are well positioned in terms of research, development and products.

Cons – Far too many overlay structures and reporting lines and complex global model. The appetite and stimulation of internal innovation has declined and there are not a lot of resources available internally. The marketing efforts of the company are not getting traction in the enterprise market. Senior executives are not getting our message and value proposition.

Advice to Senior Management – Simplify internal structure and processes.

Former Employee – worked at Sun Microsystems

Pros – Focused company with innovative technology, the employees are a great bunch of people who try to help each other.

Cons – flat structure that does not allow for career advancement. ability to tell the bad news with fear of reprisal. Some managers only hire externally within their own image, and unfairly protect these new folk over and above what is right for the company, Hiring people from backgrounds that are not systems related should be questioned.

Advice to Senior Management – Promote and hire from within, show real effort to employee growth. Listen more open to employee feedback. Build in job rotations amongst the seniro manamgement team, to ensure a balanced knowledge toward the business. Never assume that employees are happy, stay proactive on the front foot - there is always something that can be fixed.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

Current Employee – been working at Sun Microsystems

Pros – Sun makes a large variety of interesting technologies. Almost all of their technologies are open source. There are opportunities to get certifications on their technologies. Working at Sun is very good experience for other jobs that use their technology.The management provides support, but they still allow quite a lot of freedom.

Cons – The amount of paperwork required was quite large at the start, but there have been efforts to reduce this burden. Some of the training material is outdated and could have been improved. Orientation was a bit overwhelming at the start, but I quickly got up to speed.

Advice to Senior Management – Need to be more adaptive to local conditions.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

Former Employee – worked at Sun Microsystems full-time for more than 7 years

Pros – Sun offered developers and engineering staff independence, a creative environment, intelligent colleagues, access to high-end technology, and a great campus and working environment. There was a real commitment to quality software design.

Cons – The development process was often driven by marketing and engineering managers working at cross-purposes to one another. There was little support or fulfillment working on products that got cancelled. Ultimately it burned people out.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

Former Employee – worked at Sun Microsystems full-time for more than 10 years

Pros – Sun was a great place to work in it's hey day. Great benefits, lots of team building and the all hands were always something special. They spared no expense, with guest speakers such as Dana Carvey.

Cons – Hard to get promoted from within as an Admin.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend – I'm not optimistic about the outlook for this company

Former Employee – worked at Sun Microsystems full-time

Pros – People are nice and company benefits are good.

Cons – The sad news of company being acquired

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

Former Employee – worked at Sun Microsystems full-time for more than 10 years

Pros – Smart people, latitude to do great things, flexible work environment, collaborative culture (for the most part). Scott and Ed were great leaders, JS was not!

Cons – Politics abounded. Jonathan Schwartz drove the company into the ground all by himself and fired anyone who disagreed with him. CMO was a joke and just sucked up to management rather than lead a marketing function.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend – I'm optimistic about the outlook for this company

Former Employee – worked at Sun Microsystems full-time for more than 8 years

Pros – Encourage 360 degrees job. Exiting extended teams. Excelent comunication within all areas. Good career oportunties.

Cons – Doubts related Oracle future (in that time) aquisition.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

Former Employee – worked at Sun Microsystems full-time for more than 10 years

Pros – Love working on various equipment

Cons – Lack of parts and distance is too great to drive

Advice to Senior Management – Get rid of the middle management

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend – I'm not optimistic about the outlook for this company