Ben Watson

Current

Director, Product Management Group at Microsoft

Past

Director, Learning Products & Services at Microsoft
Director, Learning Services at Microsoft
Director at Microsoft

Vice-President, Collaboration at Thomson NETg
CEO & Founder at Ensemble Collaboration
Vice President - Customer Advocacy & Special Projects at SkillSoft
E-Learning Evangelist at SmartForce
General Manager - Mentoring Services Group at CBT Systems
CEO & Founder at scholars.com
Director at Academy of Learning

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7 more...

Education

The University of Glasgow
St. Thomas University

Recommended

3 people have recommended Ben

Connections

350 connections

Industry

E-Learning

Ben Watson’s Summary

Having started and sold two .com companies, managed multi-million dollar P&Ls and demonstrated solid sales execution with consistent year over year revenue growth I always look forward to new challenges. At Microsoft I lead a team responsible for all of Microsoft Learning's products and services worldwide (including our next generation of online learning services).

As a true believer in the power of collaboration I love to work in fast-paced environments for dynamic companies where change is a constant so that I can have a direct impact on setting and executing strategy, preferably involving web-based services that embrace large scale online collaboration solutions. I also thrive on evangelizing solutions to customers, employees and partners.

Ben Watson’s Specialties:

eLearning; collaboration; customer satisfaction; entrepreneur; intrapreneur (an internal entrepreneur within a large company); learning services

Ben Watson’s Experience

Director, Product Management Group

Microsoft

(Public Company; MSFT; Computer Software industry)

October 2009 — Present (2 months)

My team and I are responsible for the vision, strategy, features & functionality and pricing for all of Microsoft Learning's products, certifications, services and platforms worldwide.

Our Product Managers manage a wide range of solutions including:
• Courseware (Instructor-led training):
- Microsoft Official Curriculum MOC
- Microsoft Official Academic Curriculum MOAC
- Community Courses
• Books / Reference:
- Microsoft Press books
- E-Reference
- E-Books
• Learning Services:
- E-Learning
- Learning Snacks
- Online Labs
• All platforms including Courseware Library, Learning Central, Learning Manager, Learning Catalog, MyLearning and SnackBox (beta)
• All Microsoft certifications including:
- Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist (MCTS)
- Microsoft Certified Database Administrator (MCDBA)
- Microsoft Certified Master (MCM)
- Microsoft Certified Architect (MCA)
- Microsoft Certified Application Specialist (MCAS)
- Microsoft Office Specialist (MOS)
- Microsoft Certified Desktop Support Technician (MCDST)
- Microsoft Certified IT Professional (MCITP)
- Microsoft Certified Professional Developer (MCPD)
- Microsoft Certified Application Developer (MCAD)
- Microsoft Certified Solution Developer (MCSD)
- Microsoft Certified Master (MCM)
- Microsoft Certified Architect (MCA)
- Microsoft Certified Business Management Solutions

In particular we are excited about our new community authoring strategy of engaging our community of experts globally to help us create industry leading learning solutions including books, e-Learning and courseware as we move away from using ‘work-for-hire’ contractors to a new business model using experts as authors.

In addition, as Microsoft continues to expand its online software services, we are able to take advantage of this massive investment to create a new suite of online learning services on a scale never before seen in the education industry.
Director, Learning Products & Services

Microsoft

(Public Company; MSFT; Computer Software industry)

October 2008 — October 2009 (1 year 1 month)

My team and I are responsible for the vision, strategy, features & functionality and pricing for all of Microsoft Learning's products and services worldwide. Our Product Managers manage a wide range of solutions including:
• Microsoft Official Curriculum MOC (ILT)
• Microsoft Official Academic Curriculum MOAC (ILT)
• E-Reference
• E-Learning
• Virtual Labs
• Virtual Classes
• Community Authoring Strategy

In particular we are excited about our new community authoring strategy of engaging our community of experts globally to help us create industry leading learning solutions including books, E-Learning and ILT courseware as we move away from using ‘work-for-hire’ contractors to a ‘royalty sharing’ model using experts as authors. In addition, as Microsoft continues to expand its online software services, we are able to take advantage of this massive investment to create a new suite of online learning services including virtual labs and virtual classes.
Director, Learning Services

Microsoft

(Public Company; 10,001 or more employees; MSFT; Computer Software industry)

August 2008 — October 2008 (3 months)

As part of the Business & Product Strategy group, my team and I are focused on delivering Microsoft's next generation of online learning services, ranging from e-Learning and virtual labs to online classes. These are exciting times for Microsoft Learning as we leverage Microsoft's massive investments in initatives like Software + Services and our HyperV virtualization technologies. Chartered with increasing our customers' satisfaction with Microsoft software these learning services will be delivered globally to millions of learners on a scale never seen before in the education industry.
Director

Microsoft

(Public Company; 10,001 or more employees; MSFT; Computer Software industry)

October 2007 — August 2008 (11 months)

As the director of online strategy focused on marketing I am responsible for the success of the online business within Microsoft Learning (MSL). My team and I play a key thought leadership role with high visibility and significant impact on the performance of the online business. We "think local" and "act global" by finding gaps in our strategies, tactics, and operations. We find opportunities to leverage technology and marketing practices at huge scale - like digital marketing, and connected offline and online personalized experiences. We prioritize our options and act with a worldwide team to drive for maximum impact. With partners across Microsoft, we are creating and consolidating a world-class global online learning business with initiatives and programs that can be leveraged locally, anywhere in the world.
Vice-President, Collaboration

Thomson NETg

(Public Company; 10,001 or more employees; TOC; E-Learning industry)

January 2006 — May 2007 (1 year 5 months)

Within Thomson NETg I run a Strategic Business Unit (SBU) called Collaboration as a separate multi-million dollar P&L. I am responsible for all of our live learning web services including our online instructor-led classes and a 24x7 mentoring service supporting our self-paced online courses. By implementing a turnaround business plan with a series of successful sales and marketing strategies coupled with backend process improvements I grew revenues in 2006 by over 30%, cut development costs by 50% and reduced our time to market for new classes by 60%.
CEO & Founder

Ensemble Collaboration

(Privately Held; 11-50 employees; E-Learning industry)

December 2002 — December 2005 (3 years 1 month)

Started Ensemble to provide on-demand collaboration web services. Successfully set the strategy, developed the service and brought it to market. Managed 24 employees using a capital-efficient development process. Raised over $1M in funding including venture capital. Company was acquired by Global Mentoring.
Vice President - Customer Advocacy & Special Projects

SkillSoft

(Public Company; 1001-5000 employees; SKIL; E-Learning industry)

September 1999 — December 2002 (3 years 4 months)

Managed a special cross-company team designed to ensure retention of SmartForce's top 10 global accounts (each with contracts of over $1M) and the overall customer base. Oversaw $1M implementation of Siebel for measuring customer satisfaction. Oversaw customer advisory forum and customer events. Left SmartForce after it merged with SkillSoft.
E-Learning Evangelist

SmartForce

(Public Company; 1001-5000 employees; SKIL; E-Learning industry)

September 1999 — September 2000 (1 year 1 month)

Responsible for selling the SmartForce eLearning solution to Wall Street analysts, existing key customer accounts at the C level (CEO, COO, CFO etc) and potential large customers on a global basis. Worked closely with all business units to help set and execute strategy for the company.
General Manager - Mentoring Services Group

CBT Systems

(Public Company; 1001-5000 employees; SKIL; E-Learning industry)

September 1997 — September 1999 (2 years 1 month)

As a result of the acquisition of scholars.com created a new business unit within CBT Systems focused on online mentoring and within two years grew revenues to over $25M with 120+ employees. Oversaw all aspects of the business including managing the P&L ($5M+ budget). Actively involved in relaunching the company as SmartForce, a web-based education company.
CEO & Founder

scholars.com

(Privately Held; 11-50 employees; E-Learning industry)

September 1995 — September 1997 (2 years 1 month)

Started scholars.com to provide online mentoring to students taking courses on CD and online. Within 2 years grew revenues from zero to more than one million dollars and 17 employees before being acquired by CBT Systems (now SkillSoft), the world's largest eLearning company. Scholars.com was one of the five founding partners of the Microsoft Online Institute (MOLI). Called the 'Godfather of online mentoring" by Microsoft Certified Professional magazine.
Director

Academy of Learning

(Privately Held; 51-200 employees; E-Learning industry)

September 1991 — September 1995 (4 years 1 month)

Progressed through several roles including Director of Training. Managed special projects relating to integration of new technologies and provided new franchisee training across North America.

Ben Watson’s Education

The University of Glasgow

1991 — 1993

Master's Degree (incomplete)
Double Honors – International Politics and History – completed second year of four-year program.
St. Thomas University

1988 — 1991

Bachelor's Degree (incomplete)
Honors – International Political Science – completed third year and accepted into M.A. program at Glasgow University, Scotland.