SCIENTIFIC-ATLANTA

"We look for the get-the-job-done attitude instead of the wait-for-the-work-to-be-handed-to-me attitude."
– Greg Wilson, Director, MIS

• IBM ES9000, HP 9000 • SAP, FDDI, ORACLE •
• Communications hardware vendor • Medium-sized shop •

Scientific-Atlanta, Inc., designs and manufactures telecommunications equipment and services for cable and telephone companies, including satellite uplinking and downloading using digital earth stations and telecommunications over fiber optic cable through radio frequency (RF) links and broadband gateways. The company's communications networks are used for providing cable television, movies on demand, video games, digital music, and home/utility monitoring.

Founded in 1974, Scientific-Atlanta is a publicly-held corporation with revenues of $811 million. The company employs 4,500 people, including 3,500 at corporate headquarters in Norcross, Georgia. Scientific-Atlanta was a sponsor of the 1996 Atlanta Olympics.

Technology

Scientific-Atlanta is moving its applications from an IBM ES9000 to a client/server environment with HP 9000 servers and 3,000 to 3,500 PCs running under Windows NT and Sun Solaris workstations. Software development is primarily in the SAP manufacturing software application package, using OBAP, SAP's fourth-generation language. Additional software used includes ORACLE, MS-Access, and Lotus Notes. Applications include Interactive Voice Response Systems (IVR) for employees inquiring about their benefits, EDI, and Intergraph's CAD/CAM and Pro-Engineer software packages. Communication protocols include Ethernet and Fiber Distributed Data Interchange (FDDI).

The company's 80 computer professionals are distributed throughout departments including finance, sales, distribution, manufacturing, technical support, and help desk. Staff members are currently performing a Business Process Reengineering project in order to implement the SAP manufacturing application software.

Culture

Computer professionals work in offices and cubicles in a nonsmoking environment. Staff members typically do not travel. Travel may occasionally be needed to support new remote sites. The company observes a flexible schedule with office hours starting between 8:30 AM and 9:30 AM and ending between 5PM and 6 PM. During the transition to SAP, staff members have been working 50 to 60 hours a week. Bonuses are paid. A 40-hour to 45-hour week is more common. Computer professionals are offered the opportunity to work in an intellectually stimulating environment in the communications industry.

Scientific-Atlanta observes 12 standard and 4 floating holidays. The company offers two weeks of vacation to start, three weeks after five years and four weeks after ten years. The company pays the majority of the costs of medical, disability, and dental insurance and pays for life insurance and tuition reimbursement. There is a retirement plan, a 401(k) plan and an employee stock purchase plan. While there was a layoff in the 1980s, the company has been doubling in size every year for the last five years.

Candidates

Scientific-Atlanta looks for skilled project managers who can negotiate with vendors, plan schedules and budgets, and select staff members. SAP experience is a plus and a college degree is strongly preferred. Current staff members have from 4 years to 15 years of experience and most have Bachelor or Master's degrees. The company does hire entry-level computer professionals, preferring those with degrees in Engineering and some business background.

Scientific-Atlanta finds its 8 to 12 new computer professionals a year through advertisements, employment agencies, job fairs, internal promotions, and employee referrals.

Contact

Letters are preferred.

Ms. Beth Pollard

Vice President, Human Resources

Scientific-Atlanta, Inc.

1 Technology Parkway

Norcross, Georgia 30093

Phone: (404) 903-3301

Fax: (770) 903-3600

Greg.wilson@sciatl.com

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