Mark Collins

Background

About Mark Collins

I am an experienced Product Leader in the Software Industry with experience managing products and projects from the simple to the very complex. I have worked for both large and small software vendors developing B2B solutions. I also have extensive experience building B2C solutions while working for ISP and Telecommunications Operators, where I guided the development of solutions and systems, sometimes utilising extensive vendor engagement for outsourced development. The systems and software solutions I was responsible for, given they had direct customer facing impact, have had the potential to influence the experience consumers have of the services being offered. Software solutions need to solve problems, and customer experience was at the heart of many functional, non-functional, and integration problems I solved while working both for B2B Vendors and B2C Operators. My current focus is on building solutions in the Public Cloud to ensure that service providers in the Telco industry can innovate and achieve meaningful change for their customers and their businesses. This currently involves AWS extensively - but my cloud journey started a number of years ago developing solutions for cloud-native deployment utilising microservices and container orchestration capabilities. These solutions are addressing the needs of Digital BSS, with emphasis on customer facing charging\ billing, self-serve customer experience management (CEM), along with network messaging and device management. My varied roles and experience have enabled me to act as the Voice of the Customer, while dealing with the varied languages involved in interacting with both Engineering and Sales teams, working in a Global environment. In all of my roles, I have proven that I can quickly earn the trust of technically capable individuals, and teams, and I have also proven my ability to influence at all levels in an organisation. My constant desire is to be in a role that will allow me to continue to contribute to the success of a vibrant software development organisation, utilising my skills in Project, Program, Product, Release and Team Management, through the whole product lifecycle, while at the same time providing me with a constant challenge to learn new systems, technologies and processes. I am fascinated by the possibilities arising from the Internet of Things (IoT) and how my career background in Telecoms might yet fuse with my personal interests in the Maker Revolution.