New Customer? What to Expect From Kitware

I am frequently asked by potential customers about the nature of a business relationship with Kitware. This is true for small support contracts all the way up to multi-million dollar consulting projects. In this blog I'll paint a general picture of what you can expect, and more importantly, what you should demand from your relationship with the Company. I'll also sketch the outline of a typical project with Kitware.

Let's start with basic principles: if you know who we are you will better understand what we offer. There are three major drivers to the Kitware culture which will manifest in any relationship with us. First, technical excellence in what we do. Second, a respectful, creative and collaborative environment. Finally, efficient, agile business practices rooted in integrity.

Most of our customers initially contact us due to our open source systems which are recognized as superb technical platforms, or through the reputation of our technologists. There's not much to add here except: try out our open source systems, the proof is in the code. Similarly, you will find that our technical leaders are making significant, global impact across their areas of expertise. So if you work with Kitware, expect world-class teams and technology.

If you have read any of my previous blogs, you know that we very much enjoy, and indeed insist on, collaboration with our partners and customers. While this probably sounds obvious, it significantly impacts our relationships. For example, we are now very reluctant to engage any customer who wants to drop a large, inordinately detailed and inflexible software specification on our laps. Yes, of course requirements and specifications are essential, but taken too far they can be counter-productive. We find that an agile, collaborative process in which we work on an on-going basis with our customers works best, producing superior results. So expect high-levels of collaboration, and since our people are creative, passionate and customer-centric, expect to have a rewarding time along the way...