Allan Neil

President of Toronto Product Management Association - Passionate, Proven Product Marketer &
Manager
allan@allanneil.com

Summary
I am best described as a software developer whose superior communication skills led to success in client
delivery/implementations and whose excellent "big picture" thinking and strategic planning skills led to success
in Product Management. I am a career technology product manager with a passion for technology and
process and applying these effectively to satisfy the needs of customers and markets. Keywords: Product
Management, Product Marketing, Enterprise Software, Association Management, Excel, Visio, Leadership,
Facilitation, Problem Solving, Troubleshooting, Smalltalk, Ruby, C#, Event Management, Enterprise Software
Configuration, Web Site Administration, Pivot Tables, Data Analysis, Big Data, Gamification, Mentoring,
Coaching, Podcasting, Screencasting, Business Development, Opportunity Analysis, Addressable Market
Analysis, Mobile, Android, Playbook, Wild Apricot, Ektron CMS, Sharepoint, E-mail List Management,
Membership Database Management, Non-Profit Association Management, Podcasting, Screencasting, ETL,
Hyperion Application Link, Essbase, JavaScript, HTML5, CSS, Prezi, SQL, Podio, Jira, SFDC, Salesforce.com
Administration

Experience
President at Toronto Product Management Association
October 2014 - Present (7 months)
New role as President for the TPMA effective October 1st, 2014. Focus areas will include leadership,
volunteer recruitment/development, membership growth and month to month operations.
Product Manager at Giesecke & Devrient
February 2014 - Present (1 year 3 months)
G&D develops, produces, and markets products and solutions for payment, secure communication, and
identity management. G&D maintains a leading competitive and technological position in these markets.
VP, Operations at Toronto Product Management Association
September 2003 - September 2014 (11 years 1 month)
Support on-going operations including membership and attendance record keeping, helping organize monthly
meetings, recruiting presenters and volunteers, promotional and other activities. Actively involved since
2003.
2 recommendations available upon request
Independent Consultant at Wayfinder Group

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May 2012 - February 2014 (1 year 10 months)

The Wayfinder Group is my own consulting company. It provides strategic planning, marketing operations
and business development guidance for startups, small companies and not-for-profits. Typical projects
include clarifying/confirming business model, identifying target market(s) and find routes-to-market, tactical
marketing campaigns and operational support. Recent projects include helping a new startup founder
(mobile, audience participation) articulate the value proposition, key differentiators and messaging for
his mobile audience participation platform product. This involved understanding the startup's product,
researching the market and competition and collaborating on differentiators, positioning, and messaging.
Keywords: mobile, audience participation, conferences, audience response, web, startup, founder, value
proposition, differentiators, messaging
1 recommendation available upon request
Senior Product Line Manager at Altus Group
September 2011 - May 2012 (9 months)
Led Capital Planning Solutions product management through a critical acquisition period. Product was an
enterprise .NET (premised or SaaS) solution for capturing state-of-repair information for physical assets
such schools and office buildings for the purpose of automating the annual capital planning (budgeting)
process. Also utilized agile/XP approach to successfully create a mobile asset assessment prototype for
efficiently collecting state-of-repair information on physical assets like schools, office buildings and airports.
Keywords: product management, .NET, capital planning, physical asset management, mobile, Windows
Phone, sharepoint, excel
Director, Banking Solutions at Camilion Solutions, An SAP Company
September 2010 - October 2011 (1 year 2 months)
Created a robust pipeline of over 25 qualified and engaged prospects tracked in Salesforce.com with a
total potential revenue base of over $15M in less than 18 months for an Insurance solutions provider,
spearheading the company's entrance into a new market segment (Banking).Conducted an opportunity
assessment to determine the banking industrys pain points that could be addressed with the PLM software.
Partnered with Sales Director to "hunt" for prospects via trade show attendance, LinkedIn, event sponsorship,
etc.
Product Marketing Manager at Camilion Solutions, An SAP Company
September 2009 - September 2010 (1 year 1 month)
Conducted an opportunity assessment to determine the banking industrys pain points that could be addressed
with the PLM software. Camilion's ProductAuthority was a J2EE-based premised enterprise solution for
capturing all of a company's product information into a single repository with automated processes and for
full centralized product lifecycle management. Vertical market analysis and positioning. Developed product
positioning and messaging that positions and differentiates products in the market. Product Owner role in
agile project to create banking client application to consume PLM software service.

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Independent Consultant at Wayfinder Group

January 2009 - September 2009 (9 months)
The Wayfinder Group is my own consulting company. It provides strategic planning, marketing operations
and business development guidance for startups, small companies and not-for-profits. Typical projects
include clarifying/confirming business model, identifying target market(s) and find routes-to-market, tactical
marketing campaigns and operational support.
Product Manager at D+H
August 2005 - January 2009 (3 years 6 months)
Generated 25% reduction in support costs and enabled $100K+ additional revenue streams from add-on
services by replacing 3 outdated Mortgage Origination products serving over 10,000 users with a new J2EE
cloud-based product called "Expert". Implemented a roadmap that prioritized feature development from
beta to production. Consulted extensively with independent brokers and business partners such as Equifax
and Trans Union to create a change management plan for pain-free transition of a 10,000 users to the new
platform. Piloted transition to agile/scrum delivery approach - 6 week cycles instead of previous semi-annual
releases
3 recommendations available upon request
Product Solutions Manager at D+H
March 2004 - August 2005 (1 year 6 months)
Consistently exceeded targets for $M+ revenue and customer satisfaction as Product Solutions Manager
leading a small team of six analysts and developers delivering customized solutions and professional services
for mortgage sales forces of major Canadian Banks, including CIBC, RBC, BMO, Scotia, Presidents Choice
Financial, National Bank of Canada, Dejardins, and others. Solutions supported and customized included
both WebObjects SaaS web-based and older VB/Access based client/server solutions.
2 recommendations available upon request
Business Development Manager at Proficientz, Inc.
December 2002 - March 2004 (1 year 4 months)
Formerly ZIGZAG Marketing, With company founder launched and quickly grew company to significant
market presence in North America as alternative provider of technology Product Management and Marketing
training. Managed the e-mail campaigns that were used to build the ZIGZAG brand in a market that had
been dominated by a single player for many years. Advised on competitive positioning and branding to win
market share.
1 recommendation available upon request
Product Manager at Brooks Automation
September 2001 - November 2002 (1 year 3 months)
Revitalized revenue for mature manufacturing solution, injecting $3M in new sales by refocusing product
towards traditional, low-risk buyers previously underserved. Developed product plan for PROMIS system to
capture a $5M revenue stream. Equipped the Brooks sales team with the marketing messages, collateral and
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product training needed to effectively promote PROMIS within a comprehensive proposal. Also responsible
for reporting add-on product for real-time factory floor monitoring using Excel to display a "heat map"
style dashboard map of entire factory floor work-in-progress. Used content management system to promote
product marketing collateral from draft to product to corporate approval right through to post on external
web site.
2 recommendations available upon request
Independent Consultant at Wayfinder Group
June 2001 - September 2001 (4 months)
The Wayfinder Group is my own consulting company. It provides strategic planning, marketing operations
and business development guidance for startups, small companies and not-for-profits. Typical projects
include clarifying/confirming business model, identifying target market(s) and find routes-to-market, tactical
marketing campaigns and operational support.
Senior Product Manager at Hyperion Solutions
October 1999 - June 2001 (1 year 9 months)
Increased sales 400% and increased average sale value from $20K to $100K+ for Scorecard product that was
not selling by repositioning, reengineering, re-launching in less than 18 months by leveraging alignment
of internal / external teams and communications. Leveraged Hyperion's Essbase OLAP and HAL ETL
technology for more robust, enterprise data backend. Web based Scorecards delivered using Alphablox
web analytics. Responsible for Product Roadmap, Product Requirements, Go-to-Market planning, partner
development/relationship (Arthur Andersen, Answerthink), customer development, and industry certification
(Balanced Scorecard Collaborative). This product was the seed for what ultimately became the Enterprise
Performance Management applications which were a key attractor for Oracle's later acquisition of Hyperion.
1 recommendation available upon request
Product Manager at IBM Canada Ltd.
February 1997 - October 1999 (2 years 9 months)
Product Manager for IBM's (Footprint Software's) VisualBanker enterprise multi-channel CRM solution.
Supported hyper-growth of product from Toronto-area banks to worldwide success. About 50/50 inbound
product management and outbound product marketing. Managed Branch and Internet channel products
specifically including migration from Smalltalk to J2EE architectures.
2 recommendations available upon request
Consulting Services Manager at IBM Canada Ltd.
August 1995 - February 1997 (1 year 7 months)
Managed client implementations of IBM's (Footprint Software's) VisualBanker solution for clients such
as Met Life, BMO, TD Canada Trust, Civil Service Co-Op and others. Responsibilities included solution
implementation, customization projects, support and overall customer satisfaction. Managed small team of
developers and business analysts.

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Systems Analyst at TD
September 1994 - August 1995 (1 year)
Led the business and technical analysis for Smalltak- and 3270 "screen-scraping"-based Personal Banker
Workstation project to increase the productivity and decrease training costs for Personal Bankers in branches
by replacing their 3270 "green screen" applications with an easier to use, better-integrated PC GUI-based
application. Also acted as primary technical and business liaison with solution provider Footprint Software
(acquired by IBM in 1995). Technical architecture, Smalltalk coding (Digitalk, VisualAge), 3270 APIs,
partnership management, end user interview, requirements analysis.
1 recommendation available upon request
Sr. Programmer Analyst at TD
December 1991 - September 1994 (2 years 10 months)
Smalltalk (Digitalk and VisualAge) software development for Personal Banker Workstation project to replace
Personal Banker use of 3270 "green screen" applications with a PC client-based graphical application to
increase productivity and lower training costs. My responsibilities included both user interface design as
well as back-end interface to "screen scrape" data from 3270 applications for presentation graphically.
Programmer Analyst at TD
January 1990 - December 1991 (2 years)
Variety of software development projects including an Executive Information System (EIS) set of sales
dashboards for Bank executives using System W mainframe OLAP tool and ComShare Commander EIS
client tool for dashboards, slice and dice of data. Also, evaluated and supported implementation of Bankwide e-mail and scheduling software on the mainframe.

Languages
English
Ruby
Smalltalk
French
C#
JavaScript
SQL
CSS

(Full professional proficiency)

(Elementary proficiency)
(Professional working proficiency)
(Elementary proficiency)
(Limited working proficiency)
(Professional working proficiency)
(Full professional proficiency)
(Limited working proficiency)

Courses
Business Information Systems, Computer Software
Engineering
Fanshawe College
COBOL Programming I
COMP301
Operating Systems I
COMP319
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Assembler Programming
COBOL Programming II
Operating Systems II
CICS Systems
C Programming

COMP410
COMP401
COMP419
SYST510
COMP310

.................................................................................................................................................................
Senior Product Manager
Hyperion Solutions
Implementing Performance Measurement
Facilitative Leadership
Winning Collaboration

Hyperion Univ. Course

Schulich Seminar
Schulich Seminar

Business Development Manager

Proficientz, Inc.
Product Management Unviersity

ZIGZAG Seminar

Product Solutions Manager

D+H
Managerial Effectivess Seminar

Managerial Design Course

Product Manager
IBM Canada Ltd.
Negotiating for Success in Business
Pragmatic Product Management
Lotus Notes Administration

Schulich Seminar
Pragmatic Course
PBCS Course

Consulting Services Manager

IBM Canada Ltd.
Project Management

AMA Course

Independent Consultant
Wayfinder Group
Design: Creation of Artifacts in Society

Coursera Online Course

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Gamification

Sr. Programmer Analyst

TD
Human Factors
IBM VisualAge Smalltalk

Coursera Online Cource

HFTG Course
IBM

Honors and Awards

President's Award
Toronto Product Management Association
June 2012
The president's award recognizes "above and beyond" volunteer contributions to the Toronto Product
Management Association. The TPMA is a non-profit association for promoting networking, learning and
best practices for Toronto area technology product marketing, management and related professionals.

Publications
Offshore Outsourcing Presentation
Toronto Product Management Association March 15, 2004
Authors: Allan Neil
This is the slide deck for a panel discussion I organized and moderated for the TPMA on March 30, 2004.
Big Data Presentation
Toronto Product Management Association May 28, 2012
Authors: Allan Neil, David Corrigan, Aylmer Ng
May 2012 presentation I organized/produced for the Toronto Product Management Association on the topic
of "Big Data" including presentations by David Corrigan and Aylmer Ng from IBM.
Gamification Presentation
Toronto Product Management Association January 29, 2013
Authors: Allan Neil, Trevor van Mierlo, Duke Butler, Janice Diner, Neeharika Tummala, Michael Sahota
January 2013 panel discussion I organized/produced for the Toronto Product Management Association on the
topic of "Gamification" moderated by Duke Butler with panelists Janice Diner, Michael Sahota, Trevor van
Mierlo and Neeharika Tummala.

Projects
Mobile Physical Asset Assessment Tool Prototype
March 2012 to May 2012
Members:Allan Neil, Atley Hunter
Worked with partner Stantec on a mobile assement tool prototype using Windows Phone 7.5 and HTC
smartphone hardware. Project approach was agile/XP, myself gathering requirements and doing design with
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partner and Atley doing the Windows Phone development. Weekly cycles of white-boarding requirements/
process with partner on Monday, developing during the rest of the week, then showing that on next Mon and
doing next round of white-boarding requirements. 10 weekly cycles.
TPMA Association Management Software Search, Selection, and Migration
March 2012 to August 2012
Members:Allan Neil, Eli Alston, Lee Garrison, Charles Dimov, Niki Coons, Deepika Mediratta
In 2012 the Toronto Product Management Association decided it was time to upgrade the software it uses
to management the association (this is known as Association Management Software). The leadership
team collaborated on detailing a set of requirements (mandatory, desired, nice to have). Eli Alston was
instrumental in identify candidate solution providers and helping the team understand pros and cons of
each. With a clearer picture of requirements and solution options Lee Garrison then helped connect the
team with Wild Apricot a Toronto-area solution that met the needs of the TPMA and also was interested in
sponsoring the organization. During the July and August I created the new site structure and migrated over
the existing data. Niki and Deepika tested the new system. The new site/software was launched successfully
in September without incident.
MBABC BPCPA DISCLOSURE FORMS & CALCULATOR
May 2008 to June 2008
Members:Allan Neil, Mary Karadzovski
In the summer of 2008 I created a mortgage disclosure forms and calculator in Excel for the Mortgage
Brokers Association of British Columbia (MBABC). VB code was used for event handling and some
business logic. This was an agile/XP style project with myself as the developer/project manager and Mary
as the business analyst/lead tester. The calculations and business logic of this tool were quite complex and
the implications if incorrect would have been significant as errors could have led to financial and/or legal
penalties for brokers using the tool. This tool is still available and used by members of the MBABC today.

Volunteer Experience
Organizer at ProductCamp Toronto
July 2011 - Present (3 years 10 months)
Volunteer organizer for ProductCamp Toronto, a free day long "unconference" for sharing knowledge and
best practices among the technology product marketing and management community in the Toronto area.
See www.productcamptoronto.ca for details.

Organizations
Toronto Product Management Association
Marketing, Operations, Other
"Creating Insight through Shared Knowledge" Founded in March 2001, the Toronto Product Management
Association is a non-profit organization formed to create an environment that facilitates learning, mentoring,

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& networking opportunities. Our reach includes over five hundred product managers, directors, and
marketers from leading Toronto and GTA technology companies.

Skills & Expertise

Product Marketing
Strategic Planning
Product Launch
Segmentation
Market Development
Product Management
Product Strategy
Product Development
Sales Support
Business Analysis
Requirements Analysis
Enterprise Software
Team Building
Competitive Analysis
Marketing Strategy
Market Analysis
Business Intelligence
Cross-functional Team Leadership
Program Management
Change Management
Mentoring
Product Life Cycle Management
SDLC
Problem Solving
New Business Development
Go-to-market Strategy
Requirements Gathering
Professional Services
Visioning
Association Management
Partner Management
Business Casing
Workshop Facilitation
Pragmatic Marketing Certification
Social Media
JavaScript
Software Configuration Management
Troubleshooting
Event Management
Web Applications
Technical Support
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Manage Client Relationships

Consulting
Management
Product Lifecycle Management
Sales Operations
Strategy
Business Development
Agile Methodologies
Salesforce.com

Certifications
Pragmatic Marketing Certified
Pragmatic Marketing License n/a January 2004
Accredited Mortgage Professional
Canadian Institute of Mortgage Brokers & Lenders
December 2006 to December 2007
Competent Toastmaster (CTM)
Toastmasters International
January 1993 to December 1994
Print Production Essentials: Digital and Variable Data Printing
lynda.com License CC97B0 May 2014

Education
Seneca College of Applied Arts and Technology
Financial Services Underwriting Diploma, Financial Planning and Services, 2007 - 2009
Grade: A / 4.0
Activities and Societies: with High Honors
Fanshawe College
Business Information Systems, Computer Software Engineering, 1985 - 1989
Grade: A / 4.0

Interests
Technology, Programming, Product Management, Cycling, Photography, Meditation, Yoga, Travel, Problem
Solving, Mentoring, Association Management, Troubleshooting, Operations, Social Media, Philosophy,
Professional Development

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Allan Neil
President of Toronto Product Management Association - Passionate, Proven Product Marketer &
Manager
allan@allanneil.com

15 people have recommended Allan

"I could not ask for a better VP of Operations for the TPMA. Allan is a consummate doer and achiever.
When he is given a target, no matter how ambiguous or challenging, Allan creates a strategy, sets out a plan,
and most importantly EXECUTES with excellence. These are exactly the qualities needed in any Product
Marketing or Management role. For that matter these are the qualities all companies need in their employees
at any and all levels. For his execution prowess, he was awarded the TPMA President's Award for 2012.
Super job Allan, and thank you for your support!"
Charles Dimov, President of TPMA, Toronto Product Management Association, managed Allan at
Toronto Product Management Association
"Allan Neil is a prolific achiever. Allan is at once energetic and calm, confident and collaborative. Anyone
who works with Allan shouldn't be surprised to find themselves becoming a better leader and a better product
manager."
Aldwin Neekon, VP Marketing, Toronto Product Management Association, worked directly with Allan at
Toronto Product Management Association
"Allan has brought a wealth of experience and a fantastic attitude to all his dealings with my company in his
role as an independent consultant for the Wayfinder Group. He carries the required technical savvy married
with business acumen, but really shines with respect to putting the customer first. From relentlessly focusing
on customer needs to driving fundamental market truths into every project he is involved with, Allan ensures
the voice-of-customer is always top priority. For a business like mine that focuses on the fast-paced mobile
technology sector and requires constant realignment, having Allans involvement has helped ensure decisions
focus on what matters most the customer."
Eli Alston, was Allan's client
"I had the pleasure of not just working with Allan, but also learning from Allan. His dedication to his product,
clients and team is unmatched. His constant curiosity of the market and industry in which his products
operate is unwielding, and he goes to great length to build the right product. Allan will have a lasting
influence in my Product Management career."
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 Greg Czylyski, Product Manager, Filogix, worked directly with Allan at filogix LP
"Having worked with Allan, I was always impressed with the professionalism, and invaluable text-book
Product Management principles (something he lives and breathes) that he brought to the team. He provides a
unique balance of both strategic vision, as well as tactical disciplines (he is an MS Excel wizard) Oh, and the
guy has a sense of humour too... which makes working enjoyable."
Larry Banks, Product Analyst, Filogix Limited Partnership, reported to Allan at filogix LP
"Allan Neil has an excellent rapport with clients, colleagues and leadership team. Allan is highly respected
for his presentation and problem solving skills. He executes with passion, on time and achieves great results."
Barb Stanford, Product Architect, Filogix, worked directly with Allan at filogix LP
"I started at Filogix reporting to Allan in the Product Services group. He then moved on to the role of Expert
Product Manager and we continued a business relationship throughout my experience at Filogix. Allan was
always a really easy person to talk to. I found his knowledge and understanding of the software industry,
product managment and strategic planning to be very insightful. He would always share links to sources of
education such as books he had read, interesting blogs or websites and other interesting market news that
pertained to our industry. I found this very helpful in acquiring required knowledge that I was able to apply to
my work and enhance my personal development."
Rik Lauder, Business Analyst, Filogix, reported to Allan at filogix LP
"Allan has great diplomacy and relationship development skills, he cares a lot about his colleagues and
clients."
Tim Mattimoe, Manager, Business Services, Filogix, worked with Allan at filogix LP
"Allan was instrumental in launching ZIGZAG Marketing and helping the business develop a national
presence. I'd hire him again in a minute."
John Mansour, CEO, ZIGZAG Marketing, Inc., managed Allan at ZIGZAG Marketing
"Allan is an extremely dedicated worker who goes the extra mile to achieve the goals of the group. I enjoyed
working along side Allan as a colleague and a friend."
Tom Baum, Director Product Marketing, Brooks Automation, worked directly with Allan at Brooks
Automation
"Al is a hard working, creative, pragmatic product manager, with expert knowledge in all aspects of high
tech/manufacturing software product management. One of the best available in the Toronto area."

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 Steve Roberts, Sr. Product Manager, Brooks Automation, worked directly with Allan at Brooks
Automation
"Allan is an upfront kind of guy who cuts through the politics at large corporations. In his first few weeks
at Hyperion he came to meet with me and review my knowledge and desires for the new product he was
managing (Hyperion Performance Scorecard). I was totally impressed (then and now) with his vigour,
honesty and style!"
Mike Haley, President, Landmark Decisions Inc., was with another company when working with Allan at
Hyperion Solutions
"Allan is a super energetic and bright marketer. He has a solid grasp of both the technical and customers
perspective. It was a pleasure working with him and I wish him every success. Michael Law Cobb"
Michael Law Cobb, Director of Marketing & Communications, Footprint Software, managed Allan at
Footprint Software
"Allan is a great person to work with. He is great at understanding the problem from many different
perspectives, building consensus on solutions and get the job done well. Smart technically, great business
analysis, and great at managing commitments to completion. Very strong performer and a team player."
Andre Boysen, Vice President, Footprint Software, managed Allan at Footprint Software
"Allan worked on my team as we drove innovations in retail banking systems at TD Bank in the early 1990s.
We introduced graphical user interfaces, client server architecture and object oriented methods at the bank
Allan was key to the team in evangelizing OO approaches and techniques. He led our Smalltalk development,
and was our primary liaison with Footprint Software (supplier of the Visual Banker solution). Allan proved
hinself to be very strong technically and was able to quickly learn and adapt to the new technologies we were
employing. He was a team player and demonstrated good leadership skills."
Bill Baker, Project Manager, TD Bank, managed Allan at TD Bank
Contact Allan on LinkedIn

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