Pros
When I joined Appirio, I had been working at other consultancies and thought to myself that it will be the same type of thing, just with a different label. While cynical at first, the company has proved me wrong.
Firstly, the culture is fantastic. I have never worked at an organisation where there is so much trust. I've personally never been micromanaged and I have the choice to work at home or in the office. Though ultimately, we work where it will be best for our clients. The office itself is open plan and in a WeWork office in London. It's not stuffy, it's laid back and there are loads of perks like snacks and drinks, pub nights, pizza meetings and breakfasts.
Second is the tools. You are given the tools to work from anywhere as long as there is an internet connection. The ease of connecting to the company systems is fantastic as all the company systems are cloud based. You get the choice of a new Macbook Pro or Dell laptop, screen for your home office and a phone (if needed). It's probably been the only company that I've worked at where I haven't received the cheapest option from the hardware supplier! Appirio also have great IT support - just create a ticket and it's all logged in Salesforce. Full transparency of where your request is and no having to wait on the end of a phone line listening to dodgy hold music.
Third is the knowledge sharing and support. I had previously worked at companies that had aspired to be at the level of knowledge sharing that Appirio is at. There are Centre of Excellence groups for various clouds and systems that you consult in or have an interest in. You can participate in these to receive help or offer help to other employees. These networks are worldwide as well, which is important so regional silos are not created. We have a library of re-usable assets so that we do not have recreate everything from scratch each time there is a new project. Then, there is a the fabulous discussions email group. Anyone can email this if they are seeking help and anyone from the newest graduate recruit, to an MVP or the CEO could respond!
Career wise, it was one of the best decisions I made. Appirio has given me the opportunity to grow my career, support to take all the certifications I want and work on lots of interesting projects.
Cons
It's not without the normal challenges that go with a consulting career. At times, you're expected to go above and beyond, work late nights or weekends to get things done. You need to be able to travel. You need to be able to travel at short notice too! But...this is a fairly common issue with any consulting or project-based type job.
If you see yourself as an "all-rounder" in terms of PM, technical and BA skills, it's a little hard to apply this within Appirio's method of working using the Appirio Way. The roles and responsibilities are very defined between all the roles and it's difficult to switch from one to the other.
