As an InEight product manager for the Contract and Change applications, Ellie Barko works every day to ensure that the company meets all of their customer requirements. Providing a product that organizations can use to meet their business processes for getting all their contracts submitted, including their payment forms, vendor change orders, as well as any other change management that comes up on a project, is her constant focus.
As important as the technology is, another perk that Ellie loves about her role at InEight are all the customers that she gets to interact with from all around the world.
“I get to learn and see how everybody does their different business processes, and then try to build an application in order to fit anyone’s business,” she says.
Prior to the “data evolution” in construction, a lot of people were tracking work on spreadsheets. The problem with this?
“There was no real connection,” explains Ellie. “There was no tangible information that you could get your hands on, and you had to stop and figure out where you were on each project. But now, with technology provided by companies like InEight, you can have one manager in an office who oversees many projects and can get in to see critical data, so they’re not having to ‘knock on the door’ of the project all the time just to know what’s going on.”
Outside of work, Ellie is focused on her family. “I have three beautiful kids all under the age of six. So, that keeps us super busy,” she says. Whether it’s cooking meals, cleaning up after them (or teaching them to clean up after themselves!) plus sports for all the children, there is always something going on in the Barko household.
“We like to be active and we’re a sports family. But my husband and I also love to go out with friends, maybe have a nice, relaxing dinner and just enjoy good conversations with good people.”
Looking back over her construction career, it’s that people aspect she comes back to again and again.
“When I look at the beginning, about 13 years ago, I think of that funny saying of ‘boots on the ground,’ but it was really true,” she recalls. “We were in an office trailer, working with all our project friends. It’s then when you realize that it’s the relationships you build, the camaraderie you have on a day-to-day basis, and the lessons you learn that you never could predict.”
