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Christopher Juneau
Christopher Juneau

Christopher Juneau

Senior Director Marketing, Asia Pacific

Concur Technologies

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The Journey - Early Days to How I Got Here
My career can be broken into three chapters. First, I graduated as a Chemical Engineer from University and I practiced that profession for 1985 to 1994 in paper manufacturing. Key during that entire time was the fact that I continued to learn and had key interest in the business side of the companies I worked for. So I constantly sought people with much more experience in Finance and Marketing to learn from them. That led me to move into Marketing for a large mining company who was selling into the paper industry, again their interest in me was the fact I understood the economics of paper manufacturing and therefore could communicate the value proposition of their products. During that period  began the rise of the Dot.com and I did not want to be left behind. So I returned to school to pursue a Masters in Business and upon graduation I headed to Seattle, WA to pursue a career in the Technology sector.
Decisions That Mattered
Three things stick out:
-    I realized early on that as a Professional, I had a Professional brand which I had to establish, nurture and reinforce.
-    Returning to University to secure my Masters in Business ultimately enabled me to “re-brand” myself from an Engineer to Tech Marketing professional.
-    Taking the risk to move to Seattle with no job to pursue a career in the technology sector. I essentially started my career over and it paid off.
Work & Role: Then and Now
I have multiple responsibilities which I did not previously enjoy from spokesperson to marketing to business development and now sales. That’s one of the great things about my job, I am never bored.
Few Years Down the Line
I would likely be opening up another new market for Concur somewhere in the world.
Turning Points
I had the chance to travel for business early in my career, so it was then I realized that a requirement in any of my jobs must include an international component. I have had the opportunity to live in Germany, and the Czech Republic to work and it was an amazing experience. It is why I log 250k miles per year today to travel all around Southeast Asia for Concur.  So central to all of my career choices has been International business.

Second was working with a team of very talented people at Concur and to participate in our transformation from being a traditional License software company in 2003 to being one of the largest Cloud service companies (the largest T&E Cloud provider).  Again we bet the company on that complete transformation and it paid off. Many of competitors at the time did not and they are no longer around.
Lessons Learnt
A few:
-    You must continue learning, never stop.
-    The world is small so never let any business relationship end on a negative note.
-    Always seek out and hire people smarter than you.
Changes in My Profession
B2B Marketing is changing every day. With the consumerization of the Enterprise, the rise of the Smartphone app and social media is causing constant, exciting change.
Must Focus Trends in My Domain
I mentioned two of the technology trends above and the third would be Big Data. Meaning leveraging all of the information available to deliver a unique service experience.
My Advice If You are Starting Out
Get in wherever you can and learn as much as you can. Data is king so if you have a chance to gain expertise in data analysis, mining, etc. Go for it! I recommend that first and foremost you sign up for the Business dailies and consume as much information as you can every day. Having a sense of the broad business forces will help you regardless of your career path.
Do Certifications Help?
My Masters in Business certainly gave me credibility and enabled me to enter the tech space. I have also pursued industry certifications which actually benefited me more from the people I met while pursuing them than the certifications themselves. My advice is again to look at your Professional brand and determine where you would like to see a shift, then identify the certifications to help you shift that brand perception.
Last but Not the Least
Remember it is not just about the technology, technology is an enabler. At the end of the day it’s all about business.


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