This is the blog I am writing for all the people from
technology background who are joining Metricstream. Metricstream InfoTech is a
company which is not widely known in India
and even after clearing the tedious interview process at Metricstream, it’s
rational to be in dilemma whether to join or not. If you are simply looking for
a YES or a NO then I don’t have a readymade answer. However, I wish my
experience and understanding of Metricstream will help you to decide better.
I have joined Metricstream, R&D, AMR Tech Park as a
software engineer (MTS) with same apprehensions. I have written a separate blog
as how I moved from T.C.S to Metricstream. In this blog I am more concerned
about the life in Metricstream after joining.
In the initial days of joining I came to know Metricstream
develops a product for GRC domain. The product has 10-12 modules and few Apps with
Auditing being most popular. The organization is divided into three separate
logical entities:
- Platform: This is a whole floor with 100-150 technologists and forms the core group of MS. The basic work of platform is to develop/enhance a tool which will enable the developers to create ui forms, workflows, charts, reports and what not. The team is further divided into groups of 10-15 based on the segregation of similar work. One can see senior technologist with 10-15 years of experience in Java and other domains working here as a developer and trying to solve an issue. If you are a tech fad, then platform is the coolest place to be in the entire organization. There is no dearth of work, the requirements of GRC apps are growing everyday and they simply don’t have enough manpower to facilitate all that. This is a place which is awesome to learn latest technologies like responsive web designing, bootstrap, ext js, and architecture skills.
- R&D: This is again a whole floor with 100-150 technologists who builds the MS apps and modules on top of platform. There are few modules where the only thing one does is to use the platform to develop forms and workflows. However, there are many modules where they have vast business logic and which requires lot of processing. I was placed under R&D cell and have worked on one of the modules.
- Production Support: They had some different name for this in MS (I am forgetting) but the word sounds cool. They customize the modules according to the requirement of the clients, they handle all the support bugs and seriously, they are like the fastest people on the planet. The work will be repetitive, boring, and from what I have heard the pay scale will be better than above two departments.
My Experience:I joined Metricstream R&D as a java developer with little bit of UI knowledge.
Initially they gave me simple tasks like javascript issues eg: alignments issues,
label changes, validation errors and other simple stuffs. I also learned working in AGILE Methodology. Every module keeps on releasing new versions at an
interval of 3-4 months. Every version goes through the cycle of sprints,
stories and is properly tracked in JIRA.
The work culture in MS is vibrant and daily standup in the team ensures that no
one is stuck and everyone is on the same page.
Slowly I moved into more challenging work where I have
designed solutions for few performance related issues, and then written lot of
java code for one of new apps which we have developed from the scratch. We have
to work cohesively with BA’s and
other team members especially QA’s to
meet the deadline. The work life can be little hectic at times as every module
has its timely release which should be in syn with the product release and then
there will be bugs from previous release and then the nightmare, there will be
some support issues which requires immediate attention.
However, I liked the working environment, people are
given freedom in the organization and HRs are very friendly. The company doesn’t
restrict the productivity with misplaced processes and checks. For example: if your
mouse is not working, then directly go to the first floor and get it replaced
within one minute. One can connect even with the senior most management and give
inputs if felt. There are mandatory team lunches with every successful release
and I didn’t know how but the reasons keep coming from here and there. We used
to have team lunches/movies/outdoor one in a month for some good reason. There will be lot of work and one can get
support from like-minded people across different team provided if one is
proactive. I made some cool friends across different teams and they literally used
to ignore all their work in order to find solutions of my rather non-senseical stuffs.
The good work will be awarded with lots of appreciations, performance ratings, and
fair hikes.
I often find people writing in Glassdoor and other sites that there
is lot of inside politics in order to get promotion/hike. Well, the good thing
in MS is that there is no bell curve; however, the employee should give enough
reasons to his manager to fight for him with the higher management in the war
for appraisals. The expectation is usually set in the beginning and is mutually
agreed by both the parties. Rating is awarded based on the performance and how
much expectation (in terms of percentage) has been met. So overall it’s as fair
as sunlight. Yes, not all the days are bright and that’s why it’s not bad to
have a good relationship with the managers.
Other Things: The lunch is not really a thing to
admire in MS, but there are so many food catering mobile apps these days. The
evening snacks are rather good and kept improving during my course. There is
also the concept of free snacks at 8 pm. The management is looking into the
transport facility but it’s not free for the general shift employees. The
compensation and work will be definitely better than service based companies.
