Thank you for taking a moment to talk with us, Mark. Can you tell us little about your work history and how it led you to Datapath?
I started my career as a software programmer working on customer sites building Defence related products. Working day-to-day with end users, I developed a passion for delving deep into customer pains / needs and how technology could be used to help solve them. This led me to move into Product Management.
I then spent the next 25+ years working in several successful start-ups and high growth technology companies, building teams, directing strategies and evangelising data-driven customer-centric product development.
I’ve been lucky enough to travel the globe, collaborating with internal teams, customers and partners, launching products across a wide range of industries, including: Energy, Telecommunications, IoT, Maritime, Cyber Security, Defence, and a few others. This diversity of end users, industries and technologies, is what led me to a fresh challenge with Datapath; our extensive range of products, technologies and experience help a vast array of customers in different verticals all across the world.
Can you give us a bit of insight on what a normal day looks like for the VP of Product Management at Datapath?
Our products span a wide range of technologies and use cases, from full Control Room solutions comprising hardware and software products, to components used by our OEM partners to build their own offerings.
My role involves a mix of innovation, strategic planning, market analysis, cross-team collaboration, team leadership, and data investigation, to guide the direction of travel of the business – what we should build and why. Day-to-day, this includes, but is not limited to: customer meetings, reviewing metrics, attending tradeshows, partner discussions, mentoring teams, and making decisions on product trade-offs.
You’ve been with us for almost a year now. What are your impressions of Datapath so far?
The easiest way to explain this is what I hear when speaking to our customers and partners – in that, how responsive we are, our no-nonsense approach, and our willingness to help and get the job done. I see this reflected in our day-to-day activities as our global teams collaborate to delight customers with, not just, our best-in-class products, but also acting as a true trusted advisor to our customers, when inevitably those unanticipated project snags occur when deploying solutions into complex environments, involving multiple suppliers.
What would you say are the most rewarding and most challenging parts of your role?
It’s rewarding to see the different teams collaborating together, to build a product to solve complex industry challenges – when our customers become our advocates, this is the real proof that the combined hard efforts across the business have been worth it.
Product innovation is not without its challenges, balancing complexity, cost, time to market, competition, alongside short customer requirements and the long-term product vision, is no mean feat, but is hugely rewarding.
How do you like to spend your time away from the office?
I’m an outdoors type of person, so I spend a lot of my time with friends and family, hiking, mountain biking, surfing, and camping, come rain or shine. I also try to attend as many live local football and rugby games as my calendar allows.
Tell us something people may not know about you…
As a teenager I spent a number of years living and schooling in Cyprus. This opened my eyes to the wider world at an early age and was the catalyst for my love of travel, different cultures, and Greek food!
