Just prior to the holidays, I was asked by some high-level executives at Open Text to consider taking on a new role.  After some research and discussions, I decided to take on this new challenge.  I have to admit I was conflicted about leaving my current role as director of North American customer support, but the encouragement from my current management helped me to make the decision.

So what is the new role?  “Director of Product Management for Livelink Enterprise Server” is what it says on the business card.  For the uninitiated, Livelink ES is the flagship product for Open Text.  It is an enterprise-class application that allows large companies to manage their documents, manage their compliance with international regulatory bodies, and connect their structured information (databases) with unstructured information (documents, emails, etc) in a meaningful way.  The Livelink product management team is responsible for for this application - setting direction and priorities for the product, evangelizing and working with customers, and connecting with our many partners both internal and external to ensure we are delivering business value to our users.

If you know of anyone in the Waterloo or Chicago areas who would make a good product manager, please let me know.  I have several PM positions that I’m hiring for in both locations, and I’d love to get some referrals.

The new job officially starts on Feb 1, but the work has already begun.  I’ll be spending most of the coming month on the road, visiting with R&D teams in Chicago, Ottawa, and Munich as well as a handful of customer meetings in various locations.Â