Improving, but not fast enough - Senior Systems Engineer QTS Employee Review

3.0
Jan 31, 2018
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

QTS has been through some pretty rough times, most of the 2015-2016 reviews reflect that. I believe the current crop of leaders are steering things in the right direction with exceptions. That does not mean there still aren't significant problems, but the list of problems is slowly shrinking rather than growing. Biggest 'Pros' - Exceptional front line and middle management. I can only speak for the departments I work in, but I rarely hear complaints that are the result of just plain bad management. Bad decisions, typical employee vs manager problems (and vice versa), but not bad managers. - Not a lot of after hours escalations. This was a real problem a few years ago and it has mostly stopped. It is generally now only a thing when there's a real problem or some senior manager can't figure out how to email the NOC without being handheld (kidding - sorta). Given the 24/7 nature of the operations side of the company, this is a great improvement. - Significant effort being made to fix known problems in the company. Senior management is heading up most of these, which is both good and bad. The good is that it generally gets high visibility and has executive support, the bad is below. - Non-healthcare related benefits are either close to/at/slightly above the standards I've had at other companies in similar roles. - I actually like my job and enjoy showing up for work and interacting with team mates

Cons

- Top-Heavy and lack of 'real' leadership. Sometimes I actually put my head on my desk in frustration at the inability to get something done in a company of this size. The answer to many problems seems to be 'hire more management' that are either not empowered to actually fix problems or just aren't real leaders. Way too management heavy, from Directors with 0 reports to managers that delegate and hide in their office. We need way more leadership out of senior employees and front line managers than we are getting right now and those people that step up need to be empowered and assisted in getting things done. - Communication. It is straight up impossible to figure out who to talk to and how to find that person unless you know the right people. An actual org chart and having email contacts + pre-built chat groups/lists is a very simple start here, then work on (again - seeing a trend starting?) getting senior engineers and front line managers involved to get things connected. Email blasting everyone is not communication, that's spamming people and hoping it sticks. - Product Offering. There are significant problems with the vision and goals of the company and it is affecting the bottom line. The company should be performing significantly better than it is but due to this lack of vision and execution it's not happening. There's a lot of big talk, but a lot of it is just that and either little or no real action. I personally feel things will get a good bit worse before they have a chance to improve. - High Turnover in certain departments. My personal department has pretty low turnover, however closely related departments like the NOC (OSC in QTS-speak) have pretty high turnover that directly impacts the business and customers. It is improving and plans are going in place to further improve it, but this is a great example of "way too late and should have already been done". - Actually praying in meetings is creepy, please stop doing it. If I could figure out how to lodge an actual protest against this I'd do it. Not everyone is Christian and not everyone is religious, if you want to pray give a moment of silence and encourage people to pray if that's their thing and pray privately.

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QTS Response
8y
We greatly appreciate the time and attention in your feedback, which clearly conveys your commitment to our continued success. As we work to improve on many dimensions the key will be, as you say, the pace and I’ll add how we prioritize our efforts. While I am sure there will be things we attempt to change or make better that will require us to make adjustments along the way, I and the company, like you are committed to continuing to improve how we run the business. I would be interested in talking to you further about some of your ideas, and I know Andi Crane would love to talk to you about communication solutions. I hope you'll reach out to keep the dialogue going. Don Swartz SVP, Operations and Technology

Explore other reviews about QTS

5.0
Jun 15, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

The company has continued to find new ways to increase retention. Have a great team and feel supported by management. Just added a new equity program along with already existing stock purchase program.

Cons

Limited amount of work from home days allocated per employee. No car bonus or reimbursement for tolls on commute to work.

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QTS Response
4d
We appreciate the review! It's encouraging to hear you're excited about our new equity program, "Together We Grow." When QTS is successful, everyone is successful! QTS recognizes that work flexibility is important and employees are encouraged to utilize all 52 work-from-home days every year. This does not include days when the unexpected occurs, like picking up a sick child from school, running home to take care of an immediate need, falling ill, etc. Thank you for your feedback and contributions to QTS!
5.0
Mar 4, 2026
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Servant Leadership - Folks will lean in to help you resolve issues. Fluid workflow - There are opportunities to work with other workgroups when you have spare capacity to grow your knowledge/experience into other areas. Rampant Growth - Industry as a whole is expanding very fast. Giving new opportunities for movement Environmental stewards - Leader in sustainable data centers with closed loop cooling. Community driven - Constantly have volunteer opportunities available and actively looking for more Teamwork - From at work, to at home; Your coworkers, managers, and executives actually care about you. They want to know who you are and are genuine in their interactions. CEO's will actively strive to learn your name... so it still has the small company vibe, but it is getting bigger fast.

Cons

Growing pains - Rapid growth and expansion have left some policies in need of polishing/creating. With the rapid growth there is upward mobility that leaves production vacuums behind. Good/Bad - the expansion doesn't appear to be slowing down anytime soon.

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