[Sussex] Ubuntu used in the fight against AIDS

[Geoffrey Teale]

On Fri, 2007-03-16 at 13:50 +0000, Nico Kadel-Garcia wrote:
> Oh, it's fun to get good open source (often Linux these days!) working in 
> clinical environments and research. I did a dozen years of medical research 
> in the US, where is where I learned Linux and the like. And it's so much fun 
> to deflate EXCITING! NEW! REVOLUTIONARY! claims. That's why the language of 
> the language of the cmedresearch site is a bit frightening in its use of 
> words like "paradigm shift". Using it twice on the same page 
> (http://www.cmedresearch.com/about/idam.html) is excessive.

OK, we're stearing way off topic - but we are a Linux based business,
and I feel duty bound to answer you comments as publically as they were
made.

Agreed, the website is terrible - it was put together by an external
marketing company a while back, we're looking to change it.  I actually
find that interview candidates who've read the website don't really have
any idea what we do when they arrive - a key indicator that something is
wrong.

Despite the flowery language I'd stand by the underlying claims.  What
we do really is very different from anyone else in the field.  We're not
just a technology company but a working, full service CRO.  We don't
make claims about our technology specualtively - we really are using it
to deliver complex, adaptive trials using electronic data capture, paper
and hybrids of the two. 

> The software and tools may be fine and useful, but the overuse of buzzwords 
> and lack of anything resembling a technical explanation of their service 
> is..... troubling. Worse, the "join" web page is full of "Salary: 
> Competitive" listings, and every single job description says as its first 
> line "Are you highly motivated" or "We are seeking ambitious".

Again, yes I'd take the point about the marketing content of the
website.  

However, with regards to the job ads, I'll point out that those
qualities really are important to us -  we recognise that our business
is entirely dependent on the quality of staff we employ.   I interview
an awful lot of very clever engineers, but I turn down far more than I
hire.  It's not good enough just to be clever.  The nature of our
solution means we have to solve problems that you don't find in the vast
majority of software engineering jobs.  To be successul you have to be
clever enough to think up truly original solutions and then have the
motivation and strength of character to drive them through to completion
in a safety-critical environment.  To be clear, "motivation" and
"ambition" do not have to equate to "motivated by money" or "ambitous
for power" - most of the people within Cmed joined because they were
"ambitous" to do there job as well as it can possibly done and they're
"motivated" by working in an evnironment for of like minded people.

As for the "competitive" salary - I hire people fresh from university
all the way up to tens of years of experience.   We work very hard to
ensure that we pay them what they're worth and develop them to their
full potential.  I don't want people to apply for jobs at Cmed purely
because they see and attractive figure on the job ad - so we choose not
to indicate the range.  If, however, a potential applicant contacts me I
will happily indicate the salary range to them.   Our staff retention
rates are fantastic - all the evidence I have suggests we're doing ok in
thie regard.

> That's always a sign that the company is marketing driven, not service or 
> product driven. Such environments can be very exciting, but are filled with 
> risks. 

I'm sorry you've come to that conclusion, but if anything it tells me
that the one thing we've not been good at, ironically enough, is the
marketing.

I've been with Cmed for a number of years and I can guarantee to you
that what you describe is not the case - the business is entirely driven
by the quality of our technology and high levels of service we deliver.
If that weren't the case we wouldn't be growing in the way we are.  Our
customers come back time and time again because we really do deliver a
range of great services built on excellent technology.

... of course you only have my word for all of that, but there's enough
people on this list who've known me long enough to vouch that everything
written above is genuine.

-- 
Geoffrey Teale <tealeg at member.fsf.org>
Free Software Foundation