Product Manager

Innovative, self-motivated, Product Manager with a unique blend of technology, business and customer experience skill sets successful in uncovering and translating customer needs into requirements, then piloting innovation and collaboration with cross-functional teams to synthesize solutions and drive value.

Competencies: Product Management, Agile, Consulting, Competitive Analysis, Sales Enablement, Team Leadership, Strategic Planning and Data Analysis

Verticals: Financial, Telecommunications, Hardware/Software Vendor, Consulting/Advisory, Higher Education

SAS, QlikView, Tableau, Excel, Windows, Unix, z/OS

Professional Experience

CA Technologies, Inc. Plano, TX

Sr. Principal Product Manager 9/2014 – 3/2016

Directed the growth of a $MM software portfolio comprised of nine products across the entire life cycle. Successfully delivered major product enhancements on time and below budget contributing to annual revenue forecast being exceeded by 10%.

Managed P&L including investment levels to maximize revenue, created annual plan justifying investments for products within the portfolio, tracked and analyzed performance against plan

Subject matter expert for the portfolio, target market and competitive landscape; maintained ongoing customer acceptance of products and feedback of market requirements; defined and presented internally and to customers the product vision, strategy and roadmaps to expand the product focus within the portfolio and across platforms

Led cross-functional teams to drive product capabilities from concept to market acceptance and provided input to solution/product marketing for the go-to-market plan and support launch team

Cross organizational engagement with management, sales, engineering, support, finance and marketing and externally with partners, industry analysts and press

BMC Software, Inc. Colorado Springs, CO

Lead Business Intelligence Analyst 8/2011 – 4/2013

Provided competitive intelligence about the Application Performance, Capacity Optimization, Systems Monitoring and Performance enterprise software and markets to the Executive Leadership Team, Product Management and Sales, contributing to an improved win rate, focused customer value and product direction.

Boosted sales by providing global sales teams with specific needs/requests for competitive information/analysis enabling them to turn competitive sales opportunities into wins, and creating highly effective competitive artifacts for continued sales enablement

Improved marketing messaging by defining and managing technical research projects to identify competitive advantage solidifying customer value positioning and enhance technical/field sales enablement content; analyzed customer wins/losses; and monitored “internet chatter,” to validate marketing efforts

Deepened corporate industry leadership, competitive advantage and customer value by proactively providing evaluations of key industry and market trends, relevant competitive product updates, and analyses of competing company moves and strategies to marketing, product business units and senior/executive management

N-Squared Consulting, LLC Colorado Springs, CO

President & Principal Consultant 1/2002 – 7/2011

Company founder - provided IT consulting services along with specialized hardware and software for storage strategy development, data and infrastructure management, business continuity, and capacity planning.

-Saved over $200,000/year in hardware use costs, reduced production reruns by 60% and improved overall operating systems efficiency, delaying hardware upgrades for six months

-Slashed backup costs by 40% and backup time by 65% and increased the reliability and confidence of backup, restore and disaster recovery processes

-Improved server utilization by 45% and overall IT service by 35% better positioning the IT infrastructure for future business requirements

Achieved business goals and value realization by establishing trusted consumer relationships through authentic conversations at a technical level of detail to senior management audiences

Researched and prioritized requirements in defining product and services vision, mix, roadmap and target market; developed, implemented and analyzed effectiveness of marketing plans for products and services

Facilitated customers’ solving business problems by utilizing business and infrastructure analytical skills to translate and map customer requirements to solution capabilities and value drivers, and led comparative competitive analysis that empowered customers to make cost-effective decisions about the acquisition, implementation and utilization of hardware and software

Evaluator Group, Inc. Denver, CO

Analyst 1/2008 – 12/2010

Contract Analyst and Advisor for data storage/management technologies

-Conducted research and analysis on storage hardware and software products documenting technical details, feature comparisons, and data management tools for publication; authored whitepapers/positioning documents

-Provided storage advisory services including comparative analysis and strategic information about storage vendor and product selection, throughout the planning and decision-making process to reduce risk and complexity while accelerating project implementation enabling the alignment of clients’ business objectives with specific architectural designs and technical requirements

-Assisted storage vendors with competitive support for product management and field sales

Think Service, Inc. Colorado Springs, CO

Content Manager 6/2006 – 3/2007

Led the operational development and management of the Information Technology Infrastructure Management (ITIM) Association, a startup membership association for senior-level IT management professionals.

-Developed strategic plans for the development and delivery of products and services

-Promoted thought leadership opportunities by establishing and maintaining relationships with corporate sponsors

-Assembled and managed a team of leading industry authorities to provide membership knowledge on best practices, ITIL subject matter trends and technology; served as subject matter expert for data management and storage

-Facilitated annual conference sessions, conducted and participated in international web casts and pod casts

-Established and maintained content rich web site comprising print, voice and video media

-Managed the development, editing and publication of the quarterly magazine with over 20,000 subscribers and a bi-weekly online newsletter for over 25,000 opt-in subscribers

Hitachi Data Systems Colorado Springs, CO

Product Manager 1/2001 – 10/2001

Established and managed cross-functional, virtual, global teams in the design through rollout stages of a new product.

Defined product strategy and roadmap; managed product technical design, development, engineering and rollout schedules; supervised beta testing, evaluations and pilot programs to ensure product quality and functionality; analyzed and prioritized product enhancements to improve product functionality achieving competitive advantage

Partnered with marketing and sales teams in the development and delivery of customer presentations and evaluations

Enhanced competitive value proposition and established product-positioning strategies by analyzing market trends, new technology and competitors' offerings, collaborating with marketing to integrate new marketing/pricing strategies

Sr. Systems Engineer 6/1998 – 12/2000

Technical account management, including technical sales and marketing support for all HDS’ products and services at named Fortune 100 accounts. Achieved over $30M in annual sales at a named account through increased product awareness and utilization.

Analyzed customer’s needs recommended solutions to technical and C-level management; successfully planned and managed product testing, certifications and proof of concept projects; and responded to RFI/RFP requests and contributed in contract negotiations

Maintained the highest level of customer satisfaction through timely and complete problem resolution, presented updates about new and enhanced products, and provided on-site technical assistance as necessary, including non-HDS performance and capacity planning expertise.

Education

M.B.A. Management of Information Systems University of Missouri Kansas City, MO

B.A. Computer Science and Mathematics University of North Dakota Grand Forks, ND

B.S. Psychology and Pre-Medicine University of North Dakota Grand Forks, ND

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