Mike Alexander Email & Phone Number

London & York, United Kingdom

Responsible for client-facing activities, principally account management and project management.

York And London, United Kingdom

Responsible for the effectiveness and efficiency of all day-to-day operational aspects of the organisation, ensuring the business successfully executes long-term and short-term plans.

York And London, United Kingdom

Simplestream supply next-generation, over-the-top (OTT) TV Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) solutions to broadcasters and other content providers to deliver linear and on-demand video to their target audience via apps on a range of connected devices.Sole accountability for Simplestream’s top revenue-generating accounts, involving strategic planning, business development and project management. Achievements included retention of all key accounts, plus a number of business process improvements, such as CRM-driven revenue forecasting, and introducing tracking of CDN and cloud storage usage for all clients to calculate and invoice overages.

York And London, United Kingdom

Synapse TV provides a fully managed service for the over-the-top (OTT) delivery of linear and on-demand content via a number of connected TV platforms, including the UK’s Freeview HD. Originally a joint venture between S&T and Simplestream, S&T assumed full ownership of Synapse TV in Sep 2014.Responsibilities included:• General management of the business, including business planning and operations• Ongoing management and reporting of revenue and cost forecastsWork with internal and external teams to drive delivery of projects within an Agile environment, often as the Product Owner, including applying commercial considerations to the prioritisation of developments• Negotiation with customers and suppliers to secure commercial agreements• Drafting, review and amendment of legal agreements with customers, suppliers and business partners• Liaison with key industry stakeholders, such as Ofcom and Digital UK, including ensuring all live services maintain regulatory complianceKey achievements included:• Successfully delivered a number of linear and on-demand OTT services via the UK’s Freeview platform, including a total of over 60 streamed TV channels• Worked closely with Ofcom in establishing a streamlined licencing framework for Internet-delivered TV services, allowing channels from across the World to be delivered via Freeview• Set up and drove the use of a cloud-based sales pipeline tool for a key business partner, easing the management of Synapse’s own pipeline

York And London, United Kingdom

Strategy & Technology (S&T) is a software technology company providing solutions for the deployment of interactive multi-screen systems. S&T solutions include carousel generation and playout, middleware engines for TVs/set-top boxes, and interactive TV applications.Responsibilities included:• General management of S&T’s AirCAST solution; an interactive TV information system designed for closed networks such as those used in sectors such as hospitality, leisure and healthcare• Define strategy, product and service propositions, including commercial models and business cases• All marketing and PR activities, e.g. press releases, copy for external websites and managing all social media accounts• Identifying suitable industry events at which to exhibit, plus full responsibility for the planning, execution and budgetary management of all aspects of the company’s participation• Define the user experience (UX) for consumer-facing interactive TV solutionsKey achievements included:• Managed the complete go-to-market strategy and execution for AirCAST, including internal business case development, reseller management, sales support and system implementation• Represented S&T within, and actively contributed to, industry forums including the DTG (Common Interface), DVB (DVB-CM-CI-plus), HbbTV (Interoperability) and DigiTAG (New Market Development, Connected TV), re-enforcing S&T’s influence in strategically important industry bodies

York And London, United Kingdom

Responsibilities included:• Business development and sales across Europe for S&T’s products and services• Develop and enhance relationships with allocated customers as the primary commercial contact for each account• Manage relationships with key business partners – including resellers – to deliver joint solutions and sales• Produce sales and marketing collateral, including product data sheets, white papers, press releases and other promotional material• Prepare and submit responses to RFIs/RFQs/RFPs and other commercial proposalsAchievements included:• Successfully drove the specification and development of the World’s first public demonstration of a CI Plus (CI+) based VoD solution shown at Cable Congress in 2009, promoting S&T’s leadership position in this sector• Defined and drove execution of the initial business strategy for S&T’s Hybrid Broadcast Broadband (HBB) products and services, including those for Electronic Programme Guides (EPGs), VoD and interactive information services

York And London, United Kingdom

VuTV was a low-cost OTT pay TV service available via the UK’s Freeview platform, which launched in Nov 2013 and closed in Oct 2015 when the original channel content deals expired. Originally a joint venture between S&T and Simplestream, S&T assumed full ownership of VuTV in Sep 2014.Responsibilities included:• All aspects of the user experience (UX) on the TV and consumer-facing website• Ownership of all operational aspects of the service, ensuring maximum availability to subscribers• Cost-effective promotion of the service via social media, Google AdWords and joint promotions with Freeview receiver manufacturers• Support of subscribers, via email, social media and an online support systemAchievements included:• Launch and ongoing operation of a full pay TV service with limited resources• Configuration and management of a customer support system based on a cloud-based Kayako solution

Saltaire, United Kingdom

Pace was a leading set-top box manufacturer and technology solutions provider to the digital TV and broadband service industries (subsequently acquired by ARRIS).Responsibilities included:• Manage product portfolios through the complete product lifecycle• Liaise with business partners, including the negotiation of commercial contracts and other legal agreements• Lead all marketing and communications activities• Deliver product presentations and demonstrations• Preparation of commercial proposals• Represent Pace within key industry bodies• Acting Group Account Director for the UK Retail business unitKey achievements included:• Secured orders worth tens of £millions in revenue while interim Key Account Manager for BSkyB• Definition and implementation of a new front-end product selection process that delivered an improvement in gross margin of over 2% in the first six months• Gained significant experience of retail distribution through working with international distributors and retailers

Hull, United Kingdom

KC Media publishes the Colour Pages classified directory (print and online) and, at the time, also produced similar directories for BT and Manx Telecom.Responsibilities included:• The technology strategy for the division, plus contribute to the overall business strategy as a member of the Senior Management Team.• All aspects of the technical infrastructure.• Manage Service Level Agreements (SLAs) with internal and external suppliers.• Management of two direct reports.Key achievements included:• Initiation and ongoing management of a Business Process Reengineering (BPR) programme, resulting in significant improvements in efficiency, quality, service delivery and overall productivity, plus a projected cost saving of at least £250K over three years.• Extensive improvements to the underlying technical infrastructure, linked to a comprehensive Business Continuity Management (BCM) programme based on BSI PAS 56

Hull, United Kingdom

Kingston Interactive Television (KIT) provided a broadband (ADSL) IPTV service to subscribers in the Hull and East Riding area of the UK; the World's first commercially deployed IPTV services via ADSL.Responsibilities included the development and maintenance of the subscriber-facing interface to all aspects of the KIT service, usability testing, acquisition and ongoing management of third-party content and technology partners, and management of two direct reports.Key achievements included rapidly expanded my knowledge of interactive TV and the technologies that underpin the KIT platform (e.g. ADSL, IP, HTML, JavaScript, MPEG, embedded Web browser and TV-based interface design), the development and delivery of ground-breaking interactive TV applications, being invited to speak at international industry events on broadband and interactive TV, and the successful management, development and on-time delivery of a £100K project to enhance all aspects of the subscriber-facing KIT service.

York, United Kingdom; Chicago, Usa

Responsibilities included the management of the complete product lifecycle from conception through to launch as well as on-going enhancements and eventual product obsolescence/replacement, ensuring appropriate use of technology to meet customer needs, maximising the value proposition and revenue generation.Key achievements included being the lead architect on the next generation of the company’s software solution (incorporating a multi-tier architecture, Java/J2EE, XML, object-orientated data model and third-party APIs) that formed the foundation of all future product offerings and revenue generation. Also helped secure £3.4 million of first-round VC funding as part of the spin-off of Pindar Systems from the Pindar Group, plus managed an extensive “routes to market” project and application of the results into the company’s newly-formulated channel strategy.

York, United Kingdom

Responsibilities included definition and management of all new media products and services, specifically e-commerce solutions and associated services, plus management and personal development of a team of eleven Web developers.Key achievements included the architectural design, rapid development (within 12 weeks), launch and initial implementations of a mid-range e-commerce solution, which ultimately generated over £2 million of software and services revenue. Also won and managed the initial contract for the production of Web-based advertisements for the UK Yellow Pages which has since led to over 7,000 Web sites produced by Pindar Set (a sister company) and revenues of over £2.1 million (as at 1998).

York And Scarborough, United Kingdom; Chicago, Usa

Initially part of the Pindar Group, Pindar Systems was a multi-national company developing enterprise-wide software products used by organisations to drive sales through efficient management and delivery of product-related content via multiple print-based and digital channels (e.g. catalogues, e-commerce systems).Responsibilities included management of the on-going product development, ensuring appropriate use of technology to meet customer needs, and the provision of technical, pre-sales support to sales personnel.Key achievements included being part of a small group responsible for the functional, user interface, architectural and database design, object orientated software development and implementation of an enterprise-wide, content management and multi-channel publishing system (the Catalogue Management System, CMS) which generated over £30 million of software and services revenue.

Scarborough, United Kingdom

Pindar Graphics ~ Systems, part of the Pindar Group, was a provider of hardware, “shrink-wrapped” software, custom software development and associated services to various organisations wishing to utilise Desktop Publishing (DTP) technology.As part of the Management Team, responsibilities included the management of 6 developers, provision of technical pre-sales support, consultancy, solution design, project management, software development, installation, training and on-going support of the software solutions provided.Key achievements included the design, development and implementation of numerous DTP and database-driven solutions for organisations such as book and magazine publishers, and catalogue-based supply companies.

York, United Kingdom

Pindar Infotek were a service company utilising OCR (Optical Character Recognition) and SGML (Standard Generalized Markup Language - the precursor to HTML, XML, etc.) encoding in the capture of data in over ten languages.Responsibilities included management of a seven-person development team and undertaking design, development, scheduling and project management.Key achievements included the design and development of numerous data processing and validation applications that delivered significant improvements to process efficiency and the quality of captured data.