Director of Product Management
2021 - 2021Anunta Tech- Implemented a straightforward product prioritization process involving all stakeholders, with transparent criteria and data-driven backward assessment to continuously define and adjust the product roadmap for the next 6-12 months.
- Led a team of product managers in India, UI/UX designers in Spain for the DesktopReady platform, a Virtual Desktop solution that provides both automation and services to deliver secure Modern Workspaces.
- Collaborated with industry-leading partners such as Microsoft and VMware to define a unique product strategy. Created a theme-driven roadmap and created, maintained, and prioritized product roadmap and turned them into release plans.
- Created a transparent, ongoing product visibility process by activating Jira and Confluence, which ensured that all stakeholders were informed about relevant topics.
- Conducted customer discovery sessions and created customer and user journey maps to understand as-is status. Created journey maps for to-be status, led the prioritization efforts over the journey and communicated this with relevant stakeholders.
- Collaborated with support, marketing, and sales teams to ensure they had the required knowledge about the latest improvements on the product and kept them updated about the short-term, mid-term, and long-term roadmaps for sales enablement.
Head of Product
2020 - 2021Mostly AI- Worked with five teams to ensure the outcome-driven roadmaps met the needs of both the customer and company vision.
- Implemented a clear product prioritization process involving all stakeholders, with transparent criteria and data-driven backward assessment to continuously define and adjust the product roadmap for the next 6-12 months.
- Established a transparent, ongoing product visibility process by activating Jira and Confluence, ensuring all stakeholders were informed about relevant topics.
- Defined clear business and product requirements and effectively communicated them to all stakeholders, including executive leadership, development team, and product team.
- Prioritized user stories for current and future sprints, provided guidance and clarification with any stories as required, and assisted with any impediment resolution.
- Translated business requirements into user stories, use cases, and designs for the development team to implement.
- Facilitated agile cross-functional teams (PM, design, development, back-office) with an efficient, self-driven collaboration structure, individual output objectives, and strong product KPI reporting.
- Trained the team members across departments on major product aspects and new developments. Inspired and motivated teams to deliver innovative solutions to support product development strategy and provide exceptional business value.
- Built strong relationships with customers, partners, and stakeholders (CEO, CTO, CSO) to align on priority and build a synthetic data generation platform that supports company vision.
- Created the start-to-finish platform architecture together with the CTO.
Head of Software Products
2019 - 2020PaneraTech, Inc.- Led web and mobile product development of the complete asset life-cycle management solution in a fast-paced, Agile environment, working closely with developers and stakeholders to ensure successful product and feature launches.
- Defined the MVP scope both for web platform and mobile app on September 2019. Created a go-to-market and pricing strategy and successfully launched the MVP in 2020 Q1.
- Initiated the pilot program by influencing four enterprise customers to use the MVP version of the platform.
- Created, maintained and prioritized Product Roadmap and Release Backlogs with ready-to-go feature requirements so that developers are never blocked.
- Captured customer needs, product scenarios, user stories, and stakeholder feedback to create new features and improvements.
- Worked with sales and marketing to understand the market potential and competitive landscape.
- Guided product priorities, product plans, and overall product strategy. Performed internal meetings with upper management and development team to communicate product objectives, analyzing product metrics, and evaluate overall progress.
- Created wireframes and prototypes to guide engineering efforts. Discussed the architecture/technical decisions made in the squad.
- Continuously performed customer development and customer engagement activities to understand the perception on the customer side.
- Worked with industry experts to create a risk assessment framework specifically designed for the glass manufacturing industry. Began using the framework with pilot program customers.
Head of Product
2018 - 2019Comodo Security Solutions, Inc.- Led a team of 11 product managers in Turkey, four UX/UI designers in Ukraine, and 16 operation engineers in India for the ITarian platform, a product portfolio that consists of large-scale end-to-end digital products and IOS/Android mobile apps.
- Achieved a total number of 200,000 business customers in 2019 with a total number of 750,000 protected endpoints on the ITarian platform.
- Led product ideation workshops for a new security product-Comodo 360 platform, and prepared MVP scope. Defined GTM strategy and collaborated with upper management and product marketing leads. 360.comodo.com launched in 2018.
- Collaborated with each direct report to define a unique product strategy. Created a theme-driven roadmap and mentored staff to create, maintain, and prioritize product roadmap and turn them into release roadmaps, feature backlogs.
- Mentored each direct report to develop and track product and feature metrics and ensure that every feature we built was tied to business goals.
- Mentored each direct report on defining user stories by explaining our user stories playbook, ensuring the user stories were properly defined.
- Managed key enterprise customer accounts and performed regular on-site customer engagement meetings with them, mainly in the US.
- Performed regular monthly meetings with all internal stakeholders to communicate product objectives, analyze product metrics, and evaluate the overall progress to inspire them around the product vision.
- Collaborated with marketing and sales teams to ensure they had the required knowledge about the latest improvements on the product and kept them updated about the short-term, mid-term, and long-term roadmaps for sales enablement.
- Collaborated with upper management to develop the long-term product vision for every product in the portfolio.
Productization Coordinator
2017 - 2018Havelsan- Led the productization initiative that aimed to turn the project-oriented mindset into a product-oriented mindset covering identification, development, budgeting, marketing, and sales of potential commercial products.
- Productized seven different project outputs and managed them all in the product life cycle stages.
- Mentored a team of 11 product managers. Tracked their professional development and helped them become successful product managers.
- Designed and applied a product management and marketing framework that was tailored to the company.
- Defined the stages of new product introduction and determine the activities that will be performed in each phase.
- Wrote a chapter on the title of “Investigating the Role of Product Manager in Software Product Organizations” in “Enterprise & Business Management A Handbook for Educators, Consultants, and Practitioners” book which was published in September 2017.
Product Manager, Comodo One
2016 - 2017Comodo Security Solutions, Inc.- Led product life cycle management activities for the Comodo One platform with a focus on IT and Security Management capabilities including, Mobile Device Management, Advanced Endpoint Security, and Remote Monitoring and Patch Management modules.
- Achieved a total number of 9,000 business customers with a total number of 90,000 protected endpoints in the Comodo One platform in 2017. This represented a 467% increase in the number of protected endpoints in 2017 alone.
- Researched competitor products, market trends, and end-user feedback to define business and user requirements.
- Managed backlogs and prioritized technical work and collaborated with design and engineering teams.
- Defined all user stories along with the prototypes and wireframes, performed grooming sessions and sprint planning activities with development team.
- Managed release activities, prepared and presented product demonstrations and training sessions to customers.
- Enhanced customer success and experience by adhering to quality assurance and control procedures.
- Collaborated with program management to implement SAFe framework within the company. Optimized the product life-cycle by developing and implementing new support and improvement processes.
Product Manager
2016 - 2016OpsGenie- Performed product life cycle management activities for the OpsGenie incident management platform that offers powerful alerting mechanism and notifies the right people at the right time through email, phone call, or mobile push notifications.
- Researched competitor products and market trends to define requirements and specifications and direct software development activities.
- Initiated and led "Software Process Improvement" project, created "As-Is" and "To-Be" workflows, decided on which agile methodology is going to be used, performed tool selection for issue and project planning.
- Cleaned up current backlog which is maintained in Trello, created new Product Backlog items in Jira and Confluence platform and configured the platform workflows.
- Trained all developers and customer success team members on Scrum methodology, played pioneering role to perform all scrum practices.
- Coordinated and led team meetings to ensure successful execution of the scrum methodology.
- Worked with Customer Success engineers to discuss about the customer requests, defined and prioritized user stories, created prototypes and wireframes, performed grooming sessions and sprint planning activities with development team.
Project Manager
2015 - 2016Onur Engineering, Inc.- Planned, led, and successfully completed the DEDAS Navy Submarine Simulator project which was considered "impossible to accomplish".
- Planned and led the project with General Directorate of State Airports Authority for developing the new generation Voice Communication and Recording Systems which has been delivered to 11 civil airports.
- Compiled, prepared, and submitted regular project reports and updates to upper management and stakeholders.
- Started the initiative to participate in standardization groups EUROCAE WG-67 Voice on Internet Protocol (VoIP) for ATM and EUROCONTROL VoIP Implementation and Transition Expert Group (VOTE). Company honored as first Turkish co. accepted to group.
- Achieved high customer satisfaction levels through effective project and team management and regular quality assurance checks.
- Served as liaison and primary point of contact in addressing and resolving project and customer issues.
Project Manager
2014 - 2015Innova- Led the software development and project management process of iHOPE project, an innovative solution designed for debt collection processes of enterprise businesses.
- Performed regular on-site meetings with customers and understand problems, needs and requests.
- Elicited requirements by performing interviews, documentation analysis, requirements workshops, on-site visits, creating workflows by using Business Process Modeling Notation, and preparing use cases.
- Prepared requirements specification documents and other project deliverables in order to create accurate estimates for development efforts.
- Prepared draft financials and budget for customer needs/requests, communicated customers about the budget requirements and obtaining approval.
- Performed release planning meetings and to be sure that customers' needs and requirements are included in the release plan.
- Provided full customer support to resolve any escalated issues, to diagnose and identify issues.
- Provided analysis and support for the application development team throughout the design and development life-cycle.
- Serving as a client representative to other departments, collaborating with technical support, product development, sales, marketing and accounting.
Process Analysis Team Leader and IT Project Manager
2011 - 2014Fujitsu- Led the analysis activities for the electronic public procurement platform which is developed for the Public Procurement Authority and aims to transfer all tendering procedures from identification of needs to signing of contracts into digital medium.
- Appointed as a project manager in the "e-Tender" project that aims to perform all tendering procedures in the digital platform. Three electronic tenders were completed on the platform.
- Appointed to the Software Development Process Improvement Project. Actively contributed to the CMMI working group. Confirmed the requirements for the CMMI document for the Requirements Development Process Area.
- Established and implemented effective requirements practices, including the use and continuous improvement of the requirements process.
- Led requirements analysis and verification process, ensuring that requirement statements are complete, consistent, and that they conform to standards.
- Elicited requirements by performing interviews, documentation analysis, requirements workshops, on-site visits, creating workflows by using Business Process Modeling Notation, and preparing use cases.
- Coordinated with project team and software developers to make sure project development is on schedule and on budget.
- Managed requirements traceability status throughout the project, identified requirements errors and defects, and write requirements defect identification and notification reports.
Software Development Team Leader and IT Project Manager
2007 - 2011TOBB ETU Hospital- Led the software development team to build a comprehensive hospital information system to manage all the aspects of a hospital's operations, including medical, administrative, financial, and inventory management.
- Managed internal stakeholder and user communications, performed requirement gathering and requirement design activities, produced high-quality documentation including UML diagrams, use case documents, and software specifications documents.
- Utilized the following programming languages; C#, Visual Basic .Net, ASP. NET, Visual Basic 6.0, SQL, T-SQL, Microsoft SQL Server Integration Services (SSIS), Microsoft SQL Server Analysis Services (SSAS), UML, HTML, and XML.
- Used the following tools: Oracle 9i, Oracle 10g, SQL Server Management Studio 2008, Oracle SQL* Plus, Visual Studio, .NET, Visual Studio 6.0, Enterprise Architect.
- Applied agile scrum methodology throughout the project and monitored and controlled all outputs to ensure software met quality standards.
- Performed regular project coordination meetings with the team and upper management to check on progress, prioritizing work to meet deadlines and reviewing the scope. Performed back-end development and administration of database systems and networks.
- Analyzed legacy code from current systems and engineered well-researched, cost-effective and responsive solutions.
- Mastered in rapid application development and earned the highest customer satisfaction rating for all software solutions delivered.
Software Development Engineer
2003 - 2007Tepe Technology- Experienced in the full software development lifecycle–from concept through delivery of applications and customizable solutions.
- Utilized the following programming languages; C#, Visual Basic .NET, C++, C, Visual Basic 6.0, SQL, UML, HTML, and XML.
- Used the following tools: Oracle 9i, Oracle 10g, Oracle SQL* Plus, Visual Studio, .NET, Visual Studio 6.0, and Enterprise Architect.
- Provided user requirements analysis, design, and programming support for enhancement of the hospital information system accessed by thousands of users in Turkey and abroad.
- Experienced in object-oriented programming; developing, testing and debugging code; designing interfaces; and administering systems and networks.
- Earned the highest customer satisfaction rating for all software solutions delivered—expert in rapid application development and the management of technical issues for assigned projects.
- Known for excellent troubleshooting skills–able to analyze code and engineer well-researched, cost-effective, and responsive solutions.
Ece Isel
Product Manager in Ankara, Turkey
Member since April 21, 2020
Ece is a talented product manager with 18 years of experience leading technology enterprises and startups while completing projects that have been deemed impossible. She is experienced in B2B SaaS web applications, desktop virtualization, mobile applications, cybersecurity, healthcare, and manufacturing. Ece is an author and expert in her field, she has also delivered competitive product strategies for centralized IT management and security and asset lifecycle management platforms.
Ece is now available for hire
Project Highlights
- Comodo ONE has been recognized as a Trust Award finalist in the Best Managed Security Service category for the 2018 SC Awards.
- Gartner, Inc. has added Comodo’s Advanced Endpoint Protection (AEP) solution to its Endpoint Protection Platform (EPP) Magic Quadrant in recognition of the company’s completeness of vision and ability to execute.
- Led the productization initiative to shift the mindset from customer-specific projects to developing products, which requires an organization to change internal processes such as development, marketing, and the sales of potential commercial products.
Expertise
- Azure IaaS
- Customer Discovery
- Digital Product Management
- Managed Service Providers (MSP)
- Minimum Viable Product (MVP)
- Product Roadmaps
- Software as a Service (SaaS)
- Technical Product Management
Select Certifications
- Pragmatic Marketing
- Project Management Institute (PMI)
- OMG
Employment
Project History
- Comodo ONE: A Top Security Service Platform with Over 500,000 EndpointsComodo ONE has been recognized as a Trust Award finalist in the Best Managed Security Service category for the 2018 SC Awards.
SC Awards is recognized as the industry gold standard of accomplishment for cybersecurity professionals, products, and services. Vendors and service providers who offer a product and/or service for the commercial, government, educational, nonprofit, or other industries are eligible for the SC Awards’ Trust Award category.
Comodo ONE is a free integrated IT and security management platform for managed service providers (MSPs), combining remote monitoring and management (RMM), ticketing, and patch management into a single, easy-to-use console. It helps MSPs automate existing processes, view real-time data and alerts from customer networks, reduce operating costs, and improve the quality of service.
Comodo ONE is the only complete IT and security management platform that provides IT management tools for free. The money users save on licensing fees and other service costs through Comodo ONE allows them to hire more people and better compete for business.
https://www.scmagazine.com/home/security-news/sc-awards-finalists-2018/ - Comodo Added to Gartner Endpoint Protection Platform (EPP) Magic QuadrantGartner, Inc. has added Comodo’s Advanced Endpoint Protection (AEP) solution to its Endpoint Protection Platform (EPP) Magic Quadrant in recognition of the company’s completeness of vision and ability to execute.
Gartner, Inc. is the world's leading research and advisory firm and the most influential analyst organization in the world, given their broad reach and deep insight, based on more data points than any other analyst firm in the game.
Comodo has expanded its product portfolio to include a baseline of Endpoint Protection Platform capabilities to enterprises (free, premium, and platinum) with Comodo Advanced Endpoint Protection. Comodo Advanced Endpoint Protection (AEP) includes malware protection, a host-based intrusion prevention system (IPS), web filtering, a personal firewall, sandbox analysis, vulnerability analysis, and patching, and a 100% classification capability that helps guarantee a good or bad verdict on all executables. When an executable is untrusted or unknown, it is run in a tightly controlled container to isolate any potentially malicious activity.
Comodo One, the company's centralized IT operating platform, provides a simplified deployment experience and a baseline of typical EPP features.
Comodo One with Comodo AEP combines security and endpoint management with the benefits of preventing endpoint infections due to malware simplifying the administration of security patches, OS updates, and application control. - Productization: Transforming from Customer-specific Projects to Developing Products for MarketLed the productization initiative to shift the mindset from customer-specific projects to developing products, which requires an organization to change internal processes such as development, marketing, and the sales of potential commercial products.
Projects are generally considered to be tailor-made systems since all project outputs are built especially for a specific customer with the formal specifications.
The company initiated the productization studies in 2018 to reach the vision of "HAVELSAN 2023", which enabled a total sales of $ 1.5 billion in the defense, civil and international markets and become the national and international leading system integrator.
Seven different project outputs were successfully productized and managed in the product life cycle stages. - Lead Author of “Investigating the Role of Product Manager in Software Product Organizations”Wrote: Investigating the role of a Product Manager in Software Product Organizations.
Product management requires a broad perspective and management approach that considers multiple disciplines, such as technology, marketing, strategic planning and engineering, and interactions between these disciplines. These define product management in a variety of ways and with their own perspective.
The objective of this book chapter is to explore, understand, and investigate the role of a product manager in software product organizations to:
• Understand the general concept of software product management.
• Understand the role and responsibilities of a product manager in the software product and management context.
• Explore how a product manager role fits in with other roles in organizations.
• Walk through the roles of a product manager according to the different development phases in software development life-cycle.
Education
- Bachelor's Degree in Industrial Engineering1999 - 2003Baskent University - Ankara, Turkey
Certifications
- Pragmatic Marketing - Level IISEPTEMBER 2021 - PRESENTPragmatic Marketing
- Data Science and Big Data Analytics: Making Data-driven DecisionsMARCH 2021 - PRESENTMIT
- AI Product Manager Nanodegree ProgramDECEMBER 2020 - PRESENTUdacity
- Data Science Foundations - Level 2DECEMBER 2019 - PRESENTIBM
- Data Science Foundations - Level 1DECEMBER 2019 - PRESENTIBM
- Python for Data ScienceDECEMBER 2019 - PRESENTIBM
- Blackblot Product Management Professional in Product PlanningJANUARY 2018 - PRESENTBlackblot - Product Management Expertise
- Blackblot Product Management Professional in Product ManagementSEPTEMBER 2017 - PRESENTBlackblot - Product Management Expertise
- Introduction to CMMI for Development v1.3JULY 2017 - PRESENTCMMI Institute
- Project Management Professional (PMP)JANUARY 2016 - JANUARY 2022Project Management Institute (PMI)
- Next Generation ICAO 9896 Voice over IP interfaces for the Air Traffic Service Ground Voice NetworkSEPTEMBER 2015 - PRESENTJSP Consultancy
- OMG-Certified Expert in BPMN 2 (OCEB2)OCTOBER 2013 - OCTOBER 2018OMG
- SQL Server 2008, Business Intelligence Development and MaintenanceMAY 2011 - PRESENTMicrosoft
- Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist: SQL Server 2008, Database DevelopmentJANUARY 2011 - PRESENTMicrosoft
- Certified Business Analysis Professional (CBAP)FEBRUARY 2009 - PRESENTIIBA
- Software and Database Expertise (400 Hours)AUGUST 2008 - PRESENTMicrosoft
- Customizing Microsoft Office Sharepoint Server 2007JANUARY 2008 - PRESENTMicrosoft
- Oracle Database 10g: Performance TuningDECEMBER 2006 - PRESENTOracle University
- 2609:Introduction to C# Programming with Microsoft.NETJUNE 2006 - PRESENTMicrosoft
- 2555: Developing MS.NET Application for Windows (C#.NET)JUNE 2006 - PRESENTMicrosoft
- Oracle 9i: SQL Tuning WorkshopMARCH 2005 - PRESENTOracle
