Microsoft

Great people for the most part. I learned so much in the 18 or so years I was there. Different groups have their different idiosyncrasies, and these even change over time. So what you might hear from one person in one org will not necessarily be true in a different place.

Once I hit the principal level, I felt that the politics really took off. Up to that point, it really felt that my work stood for itself. I'm not a political kind of guy, and that was the overwhelming reason why I left.

You do a great job taking care of your people from a compensation and benefit point of view.

The annual review process is still too skewed to the individual and not enough on the effectiveness of the business. I know this is hard to measure, but the current process still ends up pitting people against each other.