Brian Crooks Email & Phone Number

Findlay, Ohio, United States

United States

Findlay, Ohio, United States

Findlay, Ohio

Findlay, Ohio

IT Project Manager with Marathon

Findlay, Ohio

I worked as a Project Manager in the Information Technologies department. In this position I lead many projects focused on various domestic and global functions within the company including, but not limited to, ERP (SAP) implementation, LEAN manufacturing, global tire certification, sales forecasting, production planning, tire building machine efficiencies, raw material scrap reduction and electronic data interchange (EDI). In addition, I have taken on several responsibilities within the IT organization aimed towards improving departmental performance and productivity. While there I was working towards the Project Management Institute (PMI) Project Management Professional (PMP) certification which follows the PMBOK generally accepted project management methodologies.

Kinetics Business Services was a growing company comprised of professionals with experience working for some of the world’s smallest and largest companies. As we grew we expanded our services to include many different areas that helped businesses. We started with a focus on project management.

Overall responsibilities were for managing the design, development, sales and marketing of five Microsoft-certified software products for accounting, distribution and project focused industries. I grew this business from inception to over $350,000 annual income in just over 4 years.Product Planning – Analyzed the target market and worked with the developers to create products that met the requirements.Project Management – Worked with internal teams to prioritize and plan the development work. Coordinated multiple, disparate teams, to accomplish implementations that would meet and exceed customers’ expectations.Marketing Management – Developed and executed comprehensive marketing plans and programs, both short and long range, to support sales and revenue objectives. Created tools, such as brochures, white papers, recorded demonstrations and price lists, to support these programs as well as organized booths and gave presentations at trade shows, including Microsoft Convergence, Microsoft’s largest customer focused trade show.Sales Management – Generated and qualified leads nurturing them to a point of sale.Account Management – Created and maintained relationships with customers and partners around the world to build and motivate a sales channel.

Global Product Manager, Microsoft Business Solutions-SolomonIn this role I was involved with the following aspects of marketing for the Microsoft-Solomon product.Market Analysis – Understand the distinctive competencies of the productQuantitative Analysis – Know product performance as well as evaluate and analyze Win/Loss dataProduct Strategy – Establish appropriate pricing and packaging. Coordinate activities with Sales Operations for shipment plans, timing, and bills-of-material.Product Planning – Position products in the market and against competitive products.Program Strategy – Manage and drive a company wide, virtual team for product marketing launches.Sales Readiness – Engage with virtual teams to assist with launch readiness and enablement.Channel Support – Assist with channel training, support, and sales.

Findlay, Ohio

Various Roles within Technical Support, Microsoft Business Solutions-SolomonI held various positions of increasing complexity and responsibility within the role of technical support.Senior Support Engineer, focused on Distribution Series of ModulesI provided technical support relating to the Dynamics SL Distribution Series of modules as well as created and edited technical documentation for both internal use as well as publication on an externally-facing knowledge base. Support Supervisor, Development and Customization Tools and Database MigrationI took a supervisory role for a newly-created team of four individuals whose focus was on supporting Dynamics SL development and customization tools and addressing other issues related to customizing and developing on the Dynamics SL platform.Technical Mentor and Development LiaisonAlong with the role of Senior Support Engineer, I mentored other Support Engineers in the various aspects of the product and in the process of troubleshooting issues. I also engaged with Development in identifying critical issues and root causes for defects and enhancement opportunities.Senior Support Engineer, focused on Development and Customization ToolsI provided technical support to partners, customers, and independent software vendors on the various development tools as well as other aspects of customizing or developing on the Dynamics SL platform.Senior Support Engineer, focused on Environment and Escalated callsI focused on installations, implementations, and environments in which Dynamics SL was installed including operating systems, network servers, database engines, and hardware.Support Engineer, Generalist focused on all aspects of the productI owned all issues the customer on the phone call had. Although this posed a difficult way to become proficient quickly, it ultimately offered me the opportunity to become very knowledgeable in the breadth of the product line and of all issues and aspects of the product.

Pembervill, Ohio

I designed, developed and supported a custom inventory tracking, customer maintenance, accounts receivable, point-of-sale solution for a greenhouse and nursery.