Meet Deacom’s jack-of-all-trades

Mark Mazich left the financial services industry four years ago for a job in quality control at Chesterbrook-based ERP software company Deacom. Now he manages one of the company’s fastest-growing teams of technologists.

Here’s why Mazich says he’s found his “forever job” building enterprise resource planning tools for a slew of growing firms.

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Walk us through your journey at Deacom so far.

I joined Deacom as a member of the Quality Control team in June 2013. In this position, I gained a detailed understanding of the challenges our customers face, how to fix them and how the software should be performing. It was a great way to learn the system and make sure we were continuously making an impact. Just shy of a year later, I transitioned over to the Support side, which took things a step further. There, I was able to work directly with customers and play a larger role in making sure the software remains relevant over time. These two roles gave me a great understanding of the software from a reactive point of view.

With this foundation in place, I felt I was ready to help get customers started from scratch and learn how to be more proactive with the software. My roles on the Implementation team as a Product Specialist and Project Manager allowed me to see how we set up our software and create new strategies to make our customer’s businesses stronger. Working so closely with both our internal and customer teams, I realized how much I enjoyed working with people and managing processes.

Last year, I became the Support Manager, which is the perfect position to let me apply everything I have learned over the years, from how the software works and how it’s applied outside of Deacom to relationship management and big-picture process control.

What can an interested applicant expect during the hiring process?

We have a very detailed hiring process to make sure the candidate is a good fit for us and that we’re a good fit for the candidate. From the beginning, we start with a Skype interview, which can then progress into an in-person meeting. At that point, they spend a few hours in meeting with a series of individuals from different teams and completing skill-based exercises. This combination allows us to see if the candidate has the potential to excel in the position while giving them some insight into what it would be like to work here.

Describe the company culture of Deacom.

It’s strong and flexible at the same time. It’s strong in that we’re a tight-knit group of individuals all working toward the same goals and objectives. It doesn’t matter what team you’re on, you feel that you’re part of one bigger culture, one bigger organization, making a real impact. It’s flexible in the sense that we have people from all different backgrounds, both personally and professionally, but we all find a way to help sharpen each other’s strengths and improve their weaknesses.

What out-of-the-ordinary technologies does Deacom use?

Mobile technology with live information is extremely rare with regards to ERP software. This means that I can be at 30,000 feet, traveling across the country, and see sales orders that my people are entering in the system, or watch as production finishes, or a new customer is created from just a contact. It’s the ability to get that information wherever you are as long as you have a connection. The way we do mobile is not very common in our industry.

How do you problem solve across different departments?

It starts with clear communication. My department is really the front line, so customers who have a problem or question with the software raise their hand to us. If we need to get somebody involved from another department, it’s nothing more than getting out of your seat to say, “Hey, can you help with this?” Everyone is always willing to lend a hand or shed some insight for another department or even team member.

What makes Deacom a better choice than its competitors?

We don’t hire people to fill seats. You’re surrounded by wonderful players, extremely intelligent individuals — you could pick anyone in the building and I’d want them for a project.

We call our culture an impact-ocracy. It doesn’t matter how senior-level you are or how long you’ve been here; it’s the positive impact you make both internally and externally. That’s what gets recognized and rewarded here.

What has been one of your proudest moments with your teammates?

My team continues to impress me every day. We all truly believe in what we are doing and are willing to go beyond what is expected to get things done. Just last week, we had a customer going live on our software and all it took was a text message that said, “Hey, we’re looking for some additional help,” and we had a team there overnight.

I believe the industry standard is that around 50 percent of all ERP software implementations fail each year. It’s situations like this that keep us holding at a 99 percent success rate, which is just unheard of. It’s that ability to stand behind your product and customers that really makes the difference.