Favorite part of the job: "Working with the
people in the community, understanding their
needs, and creating a successful company around
that."
Toughest aspect of the job: "You can't meet
all of the community's needs at once."
Salary: $125,000
with new situations, new technologies, and new
networks. And there's always something interest
ing to talk about."
Toughest aspect of the job: "There's a lot of
demand to generate business and do billable work.
You can't spend a week on an interesting problem
just because it's fun."
Salary: $60,000-$ 140,000
6. Email Channel Specialist
qualified for his new role: In 1994. he created
Seidman's Online Insider, an email newsletter that
now has 50,000 subscribers.
Favorite part of the job: "Being at the fore
front of the industry. Schwab wants to be the
smartest company in the world about email, and
I've been given license to figure out how to do that."
Toughest aspect of the job: "Adapting quick
ly and changing on the fly as we learn what works
and what doesn't."
Salary: $95,000-5180.000
5. Ethical Hacker
It's the dream job for a gener
ation of hackers: A company
paying you to break into its net
work. By simulating attacks
from the Net or from an inter
nal source, ethical hackers
locate weak spots in a company's network. Then
they work with clients to prioritize which are the
most serious threats, and suggest solutions. Jeff
Moss, director of security assessment services at
Secure Computing in San Jose. Calif., and
founder of hacker convention Def Con, got his
first computer around age 12 and was a network
consultant before he found this outlet for his hack
Some top Web businesses
believe plain-old email is the
next great channel for new
products, services, direct-mar
keting efforts, and sales. In
house experts such as Robert
Seidman. vice president of email at Schwab's
Electronic Brokerage Enterprise, oversee out
bound email channel operations, from product
development and strategic planning to corporate
policy issues. Defining a policy for the use of out
going email. Seidman says, is a simple step to
ensure email products provide value to customers,
and aren't just a cheap and easy solution for the
company.
By designing subscription-based services,
email developers offer content that customers
choose to receive—not spam. Schwab's daily
email alerts deliver information such as closing
results for market indices and the client's cus
tomized list of stock and mutual fund holdings.
Seidman directly oversees the testing of new
products to learn what customers will find accept
able. Schwab is currently experimenting with
HTML email, which allows for richer content and
graphics. Later this year, Schwab will begin test
ing the addition of some marketing messages,
such as updates on financial services or new fea
tures on Schwab's Website, within the body of its
existing email products, n Evolution: Initially,
Internet businesses focused their Web efforts on
creating online brands and securing customers.
Now, email looks like a natural complement to
existing Web products.
"If we're communicating with customers by
email five times a week, that may drive more traf
fic to our site," says Seidman. "It's potentially a
tremendously powerful tool."
Skills needed: Software development expe
rience is required to work with technicians on
design issues and rollout schedules. But an email
channel manager must also understand cus
tomers’ needs and anticipate how they would use
certain services. Seidman has worked on product
development in the software and Internet space
for the past seven years, but he is also uniquely
7. Consumer Experience Manager
Mark Reese, the chief ecom
merce officer for education
al-toy seller toysmart.com,
monitors the total quality of
a customer's experience,
from shopping the compa
ny's site to the delivery of orders. Reese works
with the content team and Web applications
developers on new features and functions that
will make the shopping experience better and
easier. For example, toysmart.corn's new Website
includes customized, one-click searches based
on toy category, age group, and price range.
Reese also oversees operations for the back end
of the transaction process, such as order fulfill
ment, supply-chain management, delivery, and
billing. He's often in the warehouse watching
orders go out the door, and frequently shops toys
mart.com under false names. For all strategic
decisions, and with any proposal of new tech
nologies or services, Reese ensures that first con
sideration is given to how it will affect customers.
ing hobby.
Network weaknesses usually develop when
fast-growing companies add new technologies
to their networks without following a defined
security policy or having a dedicated security
expert manage the process. Another potential
open door for hackers, says Moss, is a router or
firewall programmed to let in too many proto
cols and applications. Clients are often rattled
by his team's quick break-ins that exploit these
common weaknesses. "First they're in denial,
then they're terrified," says Moss. "We usually
have to tell them that it's not the end of world,
that problems are solvable." Besides perform
ing intrusion tests, Moss also puts on hacking
demonstrations at trade shows to evangelize the
need for intrusion testing.
Evolution: Only the "ethical" part of the title
is new. The best hackers, like Moss, were illegal
ly penetrating networks long before there was a
market for that skill. But as more companies put
operations and sensitive data on the Web, demand
for intrusion testing experts (once known as "tiger
teams") is exploding. "This is a huge paradigm
shift for those of us who grew up learning how to
break into things and are old enough to have real
jobs," says Moss.
Skills needed: An ethical hacker with a col
lege degree is rare, says Moss. Instead, expertise
in multiple operating systems, applications, secu
rity software, and networking protocols, along with
a good reputation, are the best credentials.
Favorite part of the job: "Constantly dealing
"I put every idea through that filter to make
sure that we have considered its effect on any part
of the transaction process," says Reese. "Our CEO
likes the fact that there's one person accountable
for the end-to-end customer experience."
Evolution: In the race to launch ecommerce
operations, companies may have neglected cus
tomer service in favor of issues such as market
ing, price, and strategic alliances. But the Web
offers new ways to develop relationships with cus
tomers, collect personal information, and design
better-targeted products and services (see "Devil's
in the Details," May ’99). An expert dedicated to
the online customer experience can help bring
ecommerce to the next level of personalization
and customer interaction.
Skills needed: Reese likens his role to that
of a chief operating officer. Operations experi
ence, systems engineering skills, and creative
and strategic thinking capabilities are essential.
"You have to be both a right-brain and a left
To subscribe to
BUSINESS2.0
call 1 800 234 0804. Ask for the special jobpOSti/igS rate of only $12 for 26 issues!