As a Product Manager, I’ve developed significant insight into the strategies, processes and tactitcs that  make for a successful product portfolio.  My experience includes insights into the ultra-competitive marketplace of consumer navigation and the dynamic and fast-paced environment of IT virtualization.  A product manager is ultimately responsible for the well-being and health of the product line, as it relates to the ability to meet the financial goals of the organization as a whole.  Some of the activities that have supported the products under my responsibility include:

·         Scope, definition and development direction to offer a scenic routing feature for consumer GPS navigation devices. 

·         Preparation and presentation of business plans, outlining the risk/reward potential for new data products and services.

·         Leading implementation of an online content-delivery platform, now transmitting over 5 terabytes of data per month to over 200k customers

My philosophy with product management revolves around the ultimate need to be responsible for everything relating to that product:  the entire value chain, from concept through sales through support.  It involves proactive, future-oriented measures to improve the market position of their products and businesses.

 

Most of the decade’s worth of geospatial experience I accumulated while working at Environmental Systems Research Institute.  At ESRI I filled two separate roles:

·         Technical sales

·         Vertical sales (logistics & transportation)

I have listed some particular projects and skills below.

Software – areas of expertise

I have trained-on, used and programmed the following products:  ArcGIS Desktop (ArcView, ArcEditor, ArcInfo), ArcGIS Server, ArcLogistics Route, ArcPad, ArcIMS.

Typical with most positions, I took on specific areas of expertise, based on interests and specific customer interaction.  I’ve tried to highlight some of those areas below, based on specific projects.

Geoprocessing models – process-oriented workflows for GIS data

o    I started developing models and scripts early in the release plan for ArcGIS 9.  Two of my models, dealing with the preparation of data products for use within a network analysis module have been posted to ArcSripts.

§  Prepare TeleAtlas DYNAMAP data for use with ESRI’s Network Analyst application

§  Prepare US government TIGER files for use with ESRI’s Network Analyst application

o    Both models make extensive use of the model builder UI as well as Python scripting

Server GIS:  ArcGIS Server & web services

I was a specialist in our technical sales group for ArcGIS server.  AGISS activity involved installation, tuning and programming (C# / .NET) for demonstration applications.  For AGISS, I prepared a number of demos for sales activity, including an ArcGIS bicycle router - a web-based tool for routing bicyclists specifically on bicycle-friendly routes.

The development for this demo included several data processing operations, which enriched standard public datasets with bicycle-relevant attributes.  This included a geoprocessing model to extract and apply elevation changes to streets, based on an underlying elevation grid.

Based on the enhanced data, the routing engine was tuned to avoid street segments with 1) large amounts of traffic and 2) significant elevation gains.

Dynamic segmentation, linear referencing

During my time as account manager for transportation clients (DOTs, rail operators, etc.)  I developed an in-depth understanding of the technical requirements and processes for these organizations.  I developed numerous demos and showcase applications that demonstrated the functional and process-oriented features for route creation and editing.

Land records management, parcel editing

A large number of ESRI customers are involved with land records editing – parcel management.  Part of my activity involved mastering the use of ArcGIS tools for the creation, maintenance and analysis of typical land records geospatial data.

I spent significant time directly training customers, developing datasets for demonstration, and creating technical manuals with user tips and guidelines.

Programming

All technical sales personnel were trained to program ESRI applications for demos and benchmark purposes.  My specific programming skills included:

·         Python scripting – used to automate and modify geoprocessing models built with the model builder UI

·         C# / .NET – used to program ArcGIS Server applications

·         Visual Basic / VBA – used to modify the ArcGIS desktop interface

The training section below details all specific classes that I undertook while at ESRI

Training

Instructor-led coursework and training was in-depth, throughout my time at ESRI.  The list below is a sample of the classes that I have completed.

Class Name	Source
ArcGIS 9 Tech. Preview	ESRI classroom
Intro. to ArcGIS Schematics	ESRI classroom
.NET Development with C#	Learning Tree International
Introduction to Programming with ArcObjects with VBA	ESRI classroom
ArcIMS administration	ESRI classroom
Creating & Managing Geodatabases	ESRI classroom
GIS-TM	Florida DOT, Systems Planning classroom
Introduction to ArcIMS	ESRI classroom
Introduction to ArcSDE	ESRI classroom
Introduction to ArcInfo using ArcMap, ArcCatalog, & ArcToolbox	ESRI classroom
Information Systems Project Management	American Management Association

 

 

CENTEX

I was engaged by CENTEX for several activities for multiple departments and offices.  CENTEX homes is a national developer of residential homes and properties.

 

Land Acquisition

CENTEX employees a large workforce that is involved in acquiring private property for their development activities.  This workforce must assess property value and ownership details in the context of physical and political attributes.  This workforce had just started to use GIS technology and I assisted them with several functions:

o    Examination of potential data sources for needed attributes:  parcel ownership data and aerial imagery

o    Acquisition of raw data from related local agencies

o    Integration of data into seamless, and high-performance databases and map documents

Marketing

CENTEX’s marketing divisions were equally interested in GIS technology for customer marketing purposes.  I assisted marketing groups in a similar fashion by:

o    Creating delineated sales regions based on physical and political map attributes

o    Using spatial selection and query functions and to apply attributes to regional datasets based on the location and/or proximity

 

Charlotte-Mecklenburg Bicycle Advisory Committee

For three years, I served as a mayoral-appointee on the Charlotte-Mecklenburg bicycle committee.  While serving, I had the opportunity to employ my GIS skills for a variety of issues and topics.  These topics included supporting the prioritization of bicycle infrastructure projects.  The committee was tasked to prioritize a list of potential bicycle inventory projects.  To assist with this task, I collected and compiled data to analyze the projects for related geographic features including:  demographics, zoning, and physical relationship to existing infrastructure.  This helped the committee to identify priority routes that could:

-       Connect areas of different zoning levels (i.e. residential to commercial)

-       Serve areas where bicycles might be a primary transportation mode

-       Connect existing infrastructure or augment areas with high traffic, but poor bicycle infrastructure