Product Manager - Optio Software

Optio makes software that helps big businesses get more value out of big business applications like JD Edwards, Oracle and SAP. As Product Manager I managed the 3-way intersection between Marketing, Development and Sales departments. It was a big family ( ~ 300 employees) with strongly held (and sometimes diametrically opposed) viewpoints about what the company needed to do to win new customers.

 

The Product Management function was a new one for the organization. My welcome to Optio came with a commitment to introduce Optio's first steps out of the client/server world and into applications delivered through the browser, eComPresent within 2 months of my arrival.

 

e.ComPresent provided real value to business customers who needed to give employees easy access to the transactional documents that businesses run on like invoices, purchase orders, pick and pack lists, etc. The cost of maintaining a license for a complex business application is high. Our solution enabled people impacted by documents to get at them without requiring a costly seat at the ERP application table.

 

In my 5 years + with Optio I was also happy to work as a Sales Engineer. I would be the guy the Salesperson would point to when a tough question came up in a pitch.  Getting time with the prospect/customer really informs what sort of feature set you need to tee up for your next product rev.

 

Additionally, I worked as a Product Marketing Manager, creating sales tools, training curricula and managing launch processes across the whole family of Optio Software products.

 

I really should have cashed out my pre-IPO shares before the great technology bust of 2001 though.

 

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