Why Was SEP Founded?
A key part of understanding SEP is why it is was founded because it was established on principles that to this day cause it to operate differently than most companies.
SEP was founded with two questions in mind. What would a company look like that was operated by technical people who used a “do what makes sense” approach? And, could a company be successful concentrating on taking care of its clients, employees and work product instead of focusing solely on doing what is profitable?
You might ask how a 22+ year old company is only 90+ employees. This is largely because there has been little pressure to be big; in fact the primary focus is actually to be good.
The dream was to design a place where the focus could be on the client and the product. We wanted to have the freedom to work on getting better. This is possible because SEP was not founded to go public or make its founders rich. SEP has not had the pressure to meet financial and growth goals that don’t make the best sense for SEP. This is not to say that SEP has not been profitable. It does mean that the company has been able to grow smartly and invest in long term priorities and intangibles.
One item you will likely note meeting with us is that we do not employ commissioned sales people. No one is commissioned at SEP. This makes for a very solutions oriented engagement and be warned we don’t often wear suits and ties.
Other keys to SEP’s success:
- We believe and maintain that the best leaders and managers are those that have done the jobs of their direct reports.
- Sticking to principles and concentrating on “culture”
- We have worked very hard to protect our reputation by delivering on promises. The level of repeat and referral business has been the result and is a major source of growth.
- Not every customer or project is right for SEP and we are ok with this. We seek out clients that will partner with us and projects that matter.
What’s In Our Name?
The name is a key indicator of SEP’s identity.
I remember in early 1988 when we named our new company “Software Engineering Professionals”. It came to my mind because it seemed to embody how I wanted people to consider SEP.
In hindsight, we perhaps should have come up with something shorter but over time as the industry has evolved our name has become more relevant and fitting.
“Software Engineering” because we know there is a body of knowledge, some of it from industry standards and academia, and the rest from day to day use that defines the best approaches and ideas. This body of knowledge is continually changing but to claim software engineering is to embrace this knowledge and seek to apply it.
Developing software indeed is an art but there is a scientific and engineering aspect to it, especially when performed on a large scale.
“Professionals” means to adhere to a standard of conduct and SEP has many such principles with the most important one being “tell the truth” – even when it hurts.
Being a professional also means to follow a profession as a career, (as opposed to just a job), so to us as professionals in software engineering we commit ourselves to “practicing” software engineering. We are interest in all aspects both technical and business.
We accept that we will never master our craft but as professionals we throw ourselves into working to be the best we can, corporately and as individuals.
SEP’s Vision includes: “to be a recognized industry leader in the application of software engineering practices”. This goal is what drives SEP as an organization.
Thanks for visiting
Jeff Gilbert
President and CEO