Pros
Very good and very dedicated core of young developers Recently started upgrading laptops to help developers be more productive There are a few dedicated individuals who try to bring spirit to the organization Recently hired a very positive, enthusiastic person to help identify new opportunities to spur growth
Cons
Top leadership is very out of touch with day-to-day activities. Senior leadership is a mostly solid, they are dedicated and work towards trying to be successful, but there are communication gaps and many are often not in the loop. The various teams are dotted with some solid performers who know what they are doing, but there are also many others on the various teams who really don't understand what they are doing. The biggest problem, however, is the product that the teams are trying hold together. The software is insanely bloated and riddled with defects and the main reason was that there were no controls in place early on while the systems were being written. The software was slapped together by numerous different developers with very little in the way of consistent architecture. Some in the management chain have ceased allowing the development team to make general improvements — their reasoning being that the improvements should wait until after the defects are fixed. The problem with that is that the software is so riddled with defects that there will never come a time to address the major architectural issues that exist. The company essentially lives off of one contract, which will likely be around for some time, because it is a very key piece of software for the government, but it is highly likely that the government will never be happy with the product that they paid for. For very junior developers, this may be a good place as there are several young developers who are very talented and dedicated, but the company thrives off of paying low wages to these young developers until they decide it's time to find greener pastures. The technologies in use are somewhat dated. The CEO sits in his office and rarely leaves. He spends most of his time making policies, trying to get everyone to help with finding additional work opportunities (on your own time), and figuring out ways to keep more money for the company, rather than the employees.