ANB Systems, the company where I am spending my summer as a Software Engineering Intern, is a tech company that creates automated workflows and document recognition products centered around the energy efficiency space. A large portion of ANB’s clients is comprised of public utility companies, who use ANB’s platforms to automate the processing of documents and forms (such as rebate applications, insurance forms, etc.) from traditionally on-paper systems to intelligent, online processes that help them make the workflows and data-storage multitudes faster and more secure. ANB Systems has two main offices – one based in Houston, the “Energy Capital of the World”, and another in Chennai, India. High-quality, cross-cultural communication, and collaboration within its organization thus form a core part of ANB’s day-to-day operations.
Since ANB is a client-facing company, that receives and deals with high volumes of client data and information, ensuring the secure and ethical treatment of these resources is a top priority for the company and its employees. A formal, written set of policies is present for employees as a covenant holding ANB’s technology, data, and security policies that dictate the methodologies and practices all employees must adhere to. This IT Security Policy is regularly revised and updated, and is agreed upon by an employee at the time of joining. Information ethics thus forms an integral part of ANB Systems’ ethical fabric.
In my conversations with my mentors and managers, I’ve learned how ANB is appreciated for the relationship it shares with its clients. As a company that prides itself on its responsibility and dedication towards its clients, the top-priority while defining employee conduct and ethics is to prevent misuse and leakage of the information and data that clients provides to us – which often includes Personally identifiable information (PII) such as addresses, phone numbers, and names – which have to be treated with utmost security. The security policy thus lays out measures that employees must follow, while accessing and dealing with systems that house the information. This also lays down details such as responsibly using company equipment like computers and ensuring that there are no malware or breaches present that can compromise the security and confidentiality of data.
Apart from tenets revolving around information ethics, ANB Systems also has many “unsaid” rules and ethical norms which lay the foundation beneath employees’ interactions with each other, and what a fair and just workplace environment should look like. These, I have seen, revolve around removing any form of discrimination, ensuring fair treatment of all members, keeping respectful, professional behavior towards all colleagues, and upholding the company’s trust in its employees — by adhering to the agreements, ethics and security policies that imbue themselves in the relationship between the organization and its members.
About The Author
Aneesh Gupta is a rising junior at Duke University, studying Computer Science and Engineering. This summer, he is working as a Software Engineering Intern at ANB Systems, working on improving document recognition, and building an automated data analytics system.
