Farewell Omniture

Today, Wednesday, August 13, 08, is Jacob's last day at Omniture.


After 10 months of php / web programming at Omniture, I decided that it was time for me to move on. Here are some of the things that I really liked and disliked about my time there.
Likes:

• PHP programming. I love to do web programming and it was as if this job fit exactly what I loved to do.


• I learned new technologies. I was put on a project as the project lead over figuring out how we'd design a central authentication system for all of Omniture's products. Since I was familiar with Novell's eDirectory, I had an immediate advantage in my learning how to use it as our LDAP backend. This information and knowledge was critical for my being qualified to get my new job at Service-Now.


• I learned about single-sign-on, how it worked, different ways to do it, etc. This knowledge was also critical to my future success at Service-Now.


• I really liked my new manager, David Haws. I got along with him really well. I also really liked Kole Winters. He was the main person that I worked with on the authentication project.

Some things that I didn't like:

• Staying late for absolutely no reason. There were times when we'd stay until midnight even though we had nothing more to do that night. That was so that other departments would know that we were serious about getting our product released on time. That drove me nuts.


• Feeling like I was working with a bunch of 20-year-olds. I felt like I was back at Ricks College sometimes. I like more of a professional business atmosphere. When we'd stay late (which was quite often), they'd have a karaoke party, a xbox competition, potato shooting, or something else ridiculous. I just wanted to go home when it was 10pm, I didn't want to be gathered together for something stupid.


• The young employees all feel that Omniture really treats their employees well. I heard that almost everyday from different people. They touted the medical benefits, the company parties, Friday lunches that were brought in, etc. Also we were continually told by management that we were treated extremely well. Well, the medical benefits were actually pretty poor. It is possible, however, the Novell's benefits were simply excellent (which they are). However, Shantell's job offered better benefits for a better price, so we used her benefits instead. It just reminds me of the tricks that I felt that NuSkin played (where Jen and Joe worked). Instead of getting a real bonus --we didn't get any at Omniture-- we'd have some elaborate Christmas party and we'd all receive $20 gift cards for Target. The young employees all thought that was great and awesome. I would rather get a bonus for Christmas.


• I really hated the company culture (can you tell :) ? )

So, there were some things that I really loved and hated about Omniture. Regardless, it was a very important career move for me to go there and work in the development realm for awhile. The experience I gained there will make me more attractive to future prospective employers and will be knowledge that I can use in the future. I had learned pretty much all that I could learn at Novell and I needed the move to Omniture to help me learn even more. I could have continued to learn at Omniture for another year or so. However, the opportunity to work at Service-Now was too inviting to pass up.

So, farewell Omniture! I do wish you the best and I hope that you enjoy your lavish Halloween and Christmas parties!