Technology Sales & Marketing Consultant
San Francisco Bay Area
- Current
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- Director / Founder at Highlander Systems
- Past
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- Advisor at Indian Venture Capital Association (IVCA)
- Senior Applications Sales Consultant at Oracle
- Adviser at The Baxley Group
- Senior Applications Sales Consultant at Icarian
- Sales Consultant at Extricity, Inc
- Consultant at PwC Consulting
- Product Management, Compensation Systems Analyst at Oracle
- Education
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- Stanford University
- Recommended
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1 person has recommended Shankar - Connections
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165
connections
- Industry
- Information Technology and Services
- Websites
Shankar Saikia’s Summary
I am a technology industry sales and marketing professional with 19 years of experience in the enterprise applications software sector. For the last 24 months I have run my own entrepreneurial venture advising companies on technology sales and marketing strategies and tactics.
As an entrepreneur I have had responsibility for all of the following:
- financial budgeting and forecasting
- marketing
- sales
- IT infrastructure
Prior to my entrepreneurial venture I worked in Silicon Valley primarily as an enterprise applications software solutions architect. As a solutions architect the key skills that I developed were the ability to:
(1) understand needs of specific industries in the areas of customer acquisition and retention (customer relationship management or CRM) and customer demand planning and fulfillment (supply chain management or SCM)
(2) explain complex topics such as social media marketing, demand/sales forecasting and supply chain management
(3) convince businesses to invest in enterprise software
Over the last 10 years I have developed relationships with over 150 US-based customers in the following industries:
- high technology (semiconductors, computer hardware, consumer electronics)
- consumer (CPG/FMCG, retail, specialty retail)
- life sciences (pharmaceuticals, biotech, medical devices).
I have worked in a pre-sales (sales consultant) capacity for two (2) early stage companies (Extricity, Icarian) and for a major enterprise software vendor (Oracle). I have co-founded two companies (The Baxley Group and Highlander Systems).
Shankar Saikia’s Experience
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Director / Founder
Highlander Systems
(Information Technology and Services industry)
September 2007 — Present (2 years 4 months)
- Cofounded advisory company (http://highlandersys.com) focused on India
- Created methodology for delivering industry-specific software solutions
- Developed customer loyalty software proof of concept for Indian retail chain
- Evaluated software business opportunity for pharmaceutical company
- Advised telecom billing software companies on go-to-market strategies
- Trained inside sales reps on ERP solution selling
- Developed social media marketing practice focused on businesses -
Advisor
Indian Venture Capital Association (IVCA)
(Information Technology and Services industry)
2008 — 2008 (less than a year)
Sales & Marketing Consultant
- Developed pricing model for selling memberships to venture capital and private equity firms
- Executed marketing plans for increasing sales -
Senior Applications Sales Consultant
Oracle
(Public Company; 10,001 or more employees; ORCL; Computer Software industry)
January 2003 — August 2007 (4 years 8 months)
- Analyzed customers’ supply chain planning, procurement, manufacturing and distribution operations
- Evaluated customers’ current and future business models
- Recommended industry best practice strategies and Oracle enterprise applications software
- Focused on semiconductor, hardware, CPG/retail and life science industries
- Developed and maintained relationships with customers’ top and middle management -
Adviser
The Baxley Group
(Information Technology and Services industry)
January 2002 — December 2002 (1 year )
- Cofounded enterprise software CRM process consulting company (http://thebaxleygroup.com)
- Performed inside sales and pre-sales roles on a consulting basis
- Developed process models for CRM consulting practice -
Senior Applications Sales Consultant
Icarian
(Information Technology and Services industry)
March 1999 — December 2001 (2 years 10 months)
- Evaluated customers’ workforce management and recruiting strategies
- Evangelized and demonstrated hosted (ondemand/SAAS) software applications
- Performed return on investment (ROI) analysis and trained team on methodology
- Built infrastructure for growing pre-sales team from 2 to 8 -
Sales Consultant
Extricity, Inc
(Computer Software industry)
1998 — 1999 (1 year )
- Advised customers on business to business application integration issues
- Created methodology to quantify ROI of software (Extricity Value Assessment)
- Led consultative sale of business-to-business integration application software
- Developed value propositions for semiconductors and device manufacturers -
Consultant
PwC Consulting
(Partnership; 10,001 or more employees; PwC; Management Consulting industry)
September 1996 — March 1998 (1 year 7 months)
- Analyzed clients’ supply chain planning, procurement, manufacturing and distribution operations
- Implemented Oracle supply chain applications at high tech and CPG clients
- Trained users in Singapore, Malaysia and the US -
Product Management, Compensation Systems Analyst
Oracle
(Public Company; 10,001 or more employees; ORCL; Computer Software industry)
August 1990 — March 1996 (5 years 8 months)
- Gathered functional and user interface requirements of applications software
- Designed, tested and managed release of manufacturing and inventory software
- Supported sales compensation department by configuring systems and helping users
- Automated compensation information reporting for sales people, and interpreted compensation plans
Shankar Saikia’s Education
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Stanford University
AB, AM , Economics , 1985 — 1990
