Most companies define values that matter to them. Some post their values prominently and refer to them often. For many years I was against writing ours down, or going out of our way to mention them, because I think values are expressed in what we do, not what we put on the wall or our web site. I want our values to reflect who we are.

As time passed, though, I realized that articulating our values would help us in several ways. First, with recruiting – we want to attract the kind of people who will enjoy and enhance the environment we have already created. Second, with managing – we use our values to explain how we expect all employees to work with each other, customers, partners, vendors and our communities. Third, with customers. We want all customers, current and prospective, to understand the people who are Ipswitch.

So we spent quite a bit of time discussing our values and writing them down. Our values are posted here. From your cumulative interactions with us, I hope you recognize us in these values, for they only matter if we use them as a guide and hold ourselves accountable to them. Please let us know how we are doing.