Erick Watson

Erick Watson

Lead Partner Marketing Manager at Microsoft

Greater Seattle Area

Current
  • Lead Partner Marketing Manager at Microsoft
Past

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8 more...

Education
  • Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College
  • University of Louisiana at Lafayette
Recommended
Erick has 20 recommendations 20 people have recommended Erick
Connections
500+ connections
Industry
Computer Software
Websites

Erick Watson’s Summary

WHO AM I?
=====================
New Business Development  Product Management  Sales & Marketing

Strategic planning of business development & marketing activities, competitive analysis, design and evangelization of new products and services. Strengths include personnel development, vision, leadership, execution. Proven talent for catalyzing and managing appropriate business change from inception through sustaining operations. Demonstrated ability to innovate and achieve breakthrough successes in highly uncertain and ambiguous business contexts.

To get connected, send me an invitation at:

erickwa@msn.com

Erick Watson’s Specialties:

Computer Software; Financial Services; Intellectual Property; Linux; Open Source; Information Technology; Developing People; Executive Coaching; Investing; Finance; Options; Synthesizing; Simplifying; Customer Advocacy; Dealing w/ Ambiguity; Change Management; Negotiation; Conflict Management; Competitive Intelligence; Direct, Relationship, & Audience Marketing; Public Relations; Advertising; Professional Services; Partner & Channel Management; Management Consulting; Non-Profits; Lobbying

Erick Watson’s Experience

  • Lead Partner Marketing Manager

    Microsoft

    (Public Company; MSFT; Computer Software industry)

    October 2007 — Present (1 year 10 months)

    Began with responsibility for Executive Engagement outreach strategies for Microsoft's top 150 Financial Services customers, eventually expanding scope to encompass Microsoft’s enterprise partner ecosystem across all sector & industry verticals. Developed and delivered a balanced portfolio of narrowcast and breadth relationship marketing programs to materially enhance Microsoft's relationships with enterprise partners & customers while systematizing their feedback into actionable insights that drive Microsoft's solution, product and business development.

    Selected Contributions:
     Drove and landed a $1.3B/yr marketing pipeline in Financial Services during FY08, fueling a 12% CAGR in sector sales
     Re-designed the Microsoft Executive Briefing Center’s entire business architecture, enabling teams of industry analysts to nearly double their customer-facing time while halving time required for operational tasks.
     Increased Microsoft’s marketing-influenced enterprise partner sales pipeline during the economic downturn of 2008-2009 by 26% or $1.8B/yr across all sector & industry verticals

  • Lead Product Manager

    Microsoft Corporation

    (Public Company; MSFT; Computer Software industry)

    July 2005 — October 2007 (2 years 4 months)

    Responsible for driving Microsoft's ‘broad reach’ competitive strategy efforts across the US delivered to IT Professional audience members. Primary focus was to champion platform initiatives that span US and Worldwide functional groups, while leading long-term competitive strategy planning, relationship marketing, evangelism and user group/community efforts for the US Server & Tools organization.

    Selected Contributions:
     Led the company’s first formal Competitive Relationship Marketing Campaign in the US, which successfully improved customer attitudes & perceptions of Windows Server vs. Linux/Open Source Software alternatives by 6%, impacting 13M IT Professionals worldwide
     Catalyzed establishment of the first ‘Microsoft Innovation Centers’ in the US, bringing together academics, venture capitalists, startup businesses, entrepreneurs, industry consortia, state and local governments to collaborate on development of local software economies
     Received the highly coveted “Microsoft Competitive Champion Award” in recognition of my team’s winning the hearts and minds of State Legislators, who were considering a bill to exclude Microsoft software from being considered for future State applications in favor of solely Open Source alternatives

  • Board Member

    Software Association of Oregon

    (Non-Profit; 1-10 employees; Non-Profit Organization Management industry)

    July 2004 — July 2007 (3 years 1 month)

    Staunch supporter of the Software Association of Oregon's (SAO's) mission to sustain a healthy and strong software industry cluster in Oregon by:
    * Helping companies START
    * Creating an environment where companies and entrepreneurs want to MOVE
    * Supporting company GROWTH
    Delivering on this vision by managing Microsoft's patron sponsorship of the SAO, active participation in and evangelism of the SAO's "START" business incubation committee, and serving on the Executive Committee to help manage and grow the SAO to better meet the needs of it's community and business stakeholders. See http://www.sao.org for more details.

  • Engagement Manager

    Microsoft Consulting Services

    (Public Company; MSFT; Computer Software industry)

    January 2004 — June 2005 (1 year 6 months)

    Directed Microsoft’s Enterprise Consulting Services organization in Oregon, focusing on the seven largest enterprise customers in the Portland Metro area, directly supporting Microsoft’s $27M licensing revenue stream in Oregon. Aggressively engaged in Microsoft Partner channel management to drive services wins and grow addressable services opportunities. Led a team of 9 consultants whose skill sets ran the gamut of Microsoft enterprise technologies and served as senior members of a regional resource pool servicing the Western US.

    Selected Contributions:
     Increased MCS-direct booked / billed consulting services revenue by 20% within 12 months over prior year
     Drove $783K of services wins in FY05 through our Partner Channel – an over 100% increase from the prior year
     Delivered continuous improvement of career management, coaching/mentoring, and service readiness for the local consulting team. Identified trends in skill and business demands based on the Sales, Consulting and Support Services team requirements in order to improve organizational health and predict future staffing needs.

  • Engagement Manager, Support Services

    Microsoft Corporation

    (Public Company; MSFT; Computer Software industry)

    October 2001 — December 2003 (2 years 3 months)

    Led Microsoft’s Enterprise Support organization in Southern California, engaging nearly 50 “Fortune 1000” customers in the Los Angeles, Irvine, and San Diego metropolitan areas and driving $12M in annuity services revenue. Led a team of 13 Technical Account Managers whose singular goal was to assure their customer’s complete satisfaction with all Microsoft products and services.

    Selected Contributions:
     Achieved #1 District in Support Services Revenue for FY02 - exceeded quota by $1.3M or 13%
     Devised and implemented the company’s first formal Critical Situation Management (CritSit) process, which was eventually implemented globally as a mandatory best practice. This new process helped our District to drive a 10% increase in superlative Customer Satisfaction Survey results in FY03 - from 58% to 68% of all respondents indicating that they were “Very Satisfied” with Microsoft products and services.
     Dramatically increased Team Performance by an average of 45%, as measured by our Organizational Health Index across all categories over prior manager.

  • Sr. Director of Operations

    Consonus

    (Privately Held; Information Technology and Services industry)

    January 2000 — September 2001 (1 year 9 months)

    Recruited by the CEO to help realize Consonus' vision of an I.T. computing utility, where all mission-critical I.T. applications and web services are delivered to end-organizations from remote Internet data centers (IDC's) that proliferate around the globe. Devised and implemented new solutions and services based on Linux/Open Source offerings, along with a robust and flexible operations support system (OSS) to administer them.

    Selected Contributions:
     Doubled gross revenues of our multi-million dollar Managed Service Provider (MSP) and Application Service Provider (ASP) lines of business in a still emergent marketplace.
     Established and nurtured key business partnerships, channel alliances and outsourcing relationships, including those with HP's OpenView Business Unit, Oracle Corporation, WebTrends and Linuxcare.

  • Microsoft Instructor

    Portland Community College

    (Educational Institution; 1001-5000 employees; Higher Education industry)

    January 1997 — December 1999 (3 years)

    Engaged in providing Microsoft Certified System Engineer (MCSE) instruction to PCC Workforce Training students as part of PCC’s Microsoft Certified Academic Training Program. Specialized in the delivery of advanced classes, such as #689 Supporting Microsoft Windows NT Server v4.0 – Enterprise Technologies, #688 Internetworking with Microsoft TCP/IP on Windows NT v4.0, and #770 Implementing and Supporting Microsoft Exchange Server v5.0.

  • Manager of Information Technology

    Interlogix

    (Public Company; 1001-5000 employees; ILXI; Electrical/Electronic Manufacturing industry)

    January 1998 — December 1999 (2 years)

    Responsible for all business computing technology across all 45 Interlogix locations worldwide. Managed a highly distributed staff of over 30 I.T. professionals whose mission was to provide the business-computing infrastructure necessary to support Interlogix's growth from $650M to $1B+ over a 3-year period.

  • Consulting Services Partner

    Cambridge Technology Partners

    (Public Company; 201-500 employees; Information Technology and Services industry)

    January 1996 — December 1997 (2 years)

    Provided technical account management, project management, as well as general sales and marketing support for customers in the Pacific Northwest. Negotiated, closed and directed numerous management consulting and I.T. infrastructure projects based primarily on Microsoft tools and methodologies. Key member of the team that opened Excell’s Portland Branch office shortly before we were acquired by Cambridge Technology Partners. Worked together with my sales counterparts in Portland to drive project-related sales from <$100K to >$500K within six months.

  • Service Desk Manager

    Keane

    (Public Company; 5001-10,000 employees; KEA; Information Technology and Services industry)

    September 1994 — December 1995 (1 year 4 months)

    Developed sales and marketing strategy for promoting Keane’s Service Desk outsourcing. Managed service delivery for key corporate accounts including the National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD). Recruited, trained and led talented teams of technical support specialists responsible for delivering help desk services on a variety of software, focusing primarily on Microsoft Windows ’95 support, to numerous Fortune 500 clients.

  • Associate Professor, English

    Xian Medical University; People's Republic of China

    (Educational Institution; 5001-10,000 employees; Higher Education industry)

    September 1993 — August 1994 (1 year)

    Taught English as a Second Language (ESL) to over 150 Chinese students and medical professionals, ranging in age from 17 to 70. Developed creative approaches to learning in order to help overcome linguistic and cultural challenges. Created and administered new courses tailored to doctors and medical students including Scientific English Terminology and Greek and Latin Etymology.

  • Manager of Information Technology

    Louisiana State University

    (Educational Institution; 10,001 or more employees; Information Technology and Services industry)

    September 1989 — May 1993 (3 years 9 months)

    Managed all computing infrastructure for LSU's Chemistry and Biochemistry departments, composed primarily of Apple Macintosh and Digital VAX systems, as well as numerous custom interfaces to scientific equipment such as liquid and solid Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) imaging, Mass Spectrometers, Gas Chromatographs, etc. Developed custom interfaces for data aquisition using National Instrument's LabVIEW product line. Conducted numerous scientific experiments on behalf of research faculty and post-doctorate fellows using these tools.

Erick Watson’s Education

  • Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College

    Bachelor of Arts , Linguistics, (German Emphasis) , 1989 — 1993

    Activities and Societies:
    German Club - President; ACS - Vice President; IEEE - Member; ACM - Secretary

  • University of Louisiana at Lafayette

    Non-Matriculated , Architecture , 1987 — 1989

    Activities and Societies:
    Sigma Alpha Epsilion, Louisiana Alpha Chapter

Additional Information

Erick Watson’s Websites:

Erick Watson’s Interests:

Advertising, Career, Coaching, Consulting, Counseling, Chinese, Civic, Cognitive Science, Competitive Analysis, Commodities, Hardware, Networking, Software, Conflict Management, Consumer, Electronics, Design, Development, Education, Executive Coaching, Fund Raising, Graphic Design, Human Resources, Import, Export, Industrial Design, Information Technology, Intellectual Property, International Affairs, Internet, Investing, Legal, Linux, Market Research, Direct Marketing, Media Production, Mentoring, Multimedia, Music, Nanotechnology, Negotiation, Non-Profit, Offshoring, Online Media, Open Source, Organizational Design, Outsourcing, Patents, Performing Arts, Philanthropy, Philosophy, Training, Program, Public Relations, Communications, Policy, Relationship, Research, Search, Online, Options, Staffing, Recruiting, Strategic Leadership, Teaching, Think Tanks, Translation, Trading, Localization, Venture Capital, Video, Wireless

Erick Watson’s Groups:

Asst. Scoutmaster, Boy Scouts of America, Troop 571; Sammamish, WA
-----------------------------
Board of Directors, Software Association of Oregon
Executive Committee, Software Association of Oregon
START Business Incubation Committee, Software Association of Oregon
http://www.sao.org
-----------------------------
Board of Advisors, Beaverton Open Technology Business Center
http://www.opentechcenter.org
-----------------------------
Executive Member; Alliance of Women in Technology (ATW); Portland, OR Chapter
http://www.atwinternational.org
-----------------------------
Parent Faculty Association, the Catlin Gabel School
http://www.catlin.edu
-----------------------------
Parent Teacher & Student Association, Blackwell Elementary & Inglewood Junior High School
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Mentor
http://www.mentornet.net

  •    Internet Strategy Forum
  •    A U.S. Government Relations & Public Affairs Group
  •    EPM - Business Intelligence
  •    Online Business Owners
  •    Linked:Seattle
  •    University of Louisiana at Lafayette Alumni
  •    TopLinked.com (Open Networkers)
  •    Microsoft Employees
  •    University of Oregon Alumni
  •    Keane Alumni
  •    Hedge Fund Group (HFG)
  •    Innovative Recruitment Forum
  •    E-Commerce Solutions
  •    Internet Marketing & Advertising Pros
  •    SalesBlogcast.com
  •    SMB Professionals Group
  •    NWEN - Northwest Entrepreneur Network
  •    Quant Finance
  •    LION500.com (Open Networkers)
  •    Information Technology Contracting
  •    Subject Matter Experts
  •    Microsoft - Current and Former Employees
  •    Cambridge Technology Partners (CTP) - Alumni
  •    Center for Creative Leadership
  •    Electric Vehicle
  •    Open Source Invent
  •    US Policy on China & the Rest of the World Group
  •    Corporate Planning & Global Industry Segmentation
  •    The Gold Standard.
  •    Premier Web Solutions Australia
  •    Marketing Tips & Tricks - Aximum Marketing
  •    SaaS (Software as a Service) Networkers
  •    Authorized Education & Training Network

Erick Watson’s Honors:

Microsoft Competitive Champion Award - FY07
Microsoft PacWest Manager's Excellence Award - Q1 FY05
Microsoft West Region Terrific Teamwork Award - Q1 FY05
Microsoft Top G7 Subsidiary - FY06
Oregon Superintendent of Education's Blue Ribbon Panel on Student Achievement - 2007

PUBLICATIONS: Microsoft Windows NT Server v4.0 Enterprise Technologies Training Kit ISBN# 1-57231-710-8

LANGUAGES: Conversant in Mandarin Chinese and German

Meyers-Briggs Type Indicator: ENFP

Erick Watson’s Contact Settings

Interested In:

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  • consulting offers
  • new ventures
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  • expertise requests
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  • reference requests
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