SMART Technologies Software Developer reviews

Most of the "company things" (like HR functions) are handled very poorly. VERY poorly. Look for the same bad ideas to percolate up year after year.

Upper management is in a constant state of flux, so the company often lacks a strong vision - or repeatedly jumps from one strong vision to another. There's a culture of decision paralysis and low expectations that prevents progress. The dev teams are great, full of talented developers who work well together and want to produce a great product, but they're usually held back because management at all levels struggles to make final decisions - and maybe because they're always late with decisions, they tend to aim low. For example, the company was VERY well positioned to pivot to remote-first learning solutions during covid - but instead of acting decisively, the company dawdled and held endless meetings and, a year into covid, had decided to maybe think about putting remote-first learning on the product roadmap. Too much micromanagement. Little trust in developers to do their jobs well - for no apparent reason, since the devs are not the issue. The company is highly siloed. Little lateral communication between different teams. Low salaries for the Seattle area. Zero raises were offered over 3+ years, even as cost of living skyrocketed. Career progression runs through Calgary - difficult to advance if you're not at headquarters.