CHICAGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--SMS Assist today announced the hiring of Amazon veteran Peter Commons as Chief Product Officer.
Most recently director of Global Product and Technology for Amazon Fresh, Amazon’s grocery delivery business, Commons has more than 25 years of experience leading the conception and development of game-changing technology innovation. He brings a wealth of technical and product expertise to the world-class executive team at SMS Assist, a company that combines property management know-how with technology-driven innovation to create radically higher levels of transparency and efficiency for companies who face the cost and complexity of managing their physical footprints with costly, antiquated models.
“As we expand the breadth of our product lines, we are increasingly becoming a big data solutions company that can turn facilities management into an asset versus a cost center. Peter has an incredible track record as a creative, customer-focused product and technology leader, making him the perfect fit for our mission to revolutionize our industry,” said Taylor Rhodes, CEO of SMS Assist. “Peter’s experience in disrupting established markets through the application of technology and data will help us create far more value for our customers and will further differentiate SMS Assist as the industry leader. We could not be more proud to have him onboard.”
After receiving his B.S. and M.S. in Computer Science from Stanford University, Peter spent the first half of his career working in Silicon Valley for companies ranging from Apple to Microsoft. He joined Amazon in 2005, initially helping to launch the first version of the Kindle. Since then, Peter has built and improved many of Amazon’s core technical systems, helped launch Amazon’s first multi-lingual website, and most recently led the 400-person product and technical teams for Amazon Fresh, Amazon’s grocery delivery service. Responsible for the development teams for Fresh’s customer-facing website and mobile experience, as well as its backend forecasting and shipment-planning software, Commons helped grow the business by more than 400 percent during his first year in that role and more than doubled the engineering staff.
“I am thrilled to embark on this exciting new challenge with the talented team at SMS Assist,” Commons said. “I love building and developing great product and technical teams that change industries and make life better for customers. That’s exactly what SMS Assist is doing for the people who own and manage the world’s biggest asset class – real estate. With the company’s strong leadership and its smart, passionate workforce, we will make this huge industry significantly better and more valuable.”
Commons, who relocated to Chicago from the Seattle area, assumes his duties in early March.
About SMS Assist
SMS Assist is a Chicago-based technology company providing multisite property management to a roster of Fortune 500 clients with a team of more than 750 dedicated employees and more than 186,000 service locations. Using its proprietary software platform to manage its network of more than 20,000 affiliate subcontractors, SMS Assist offers a suite of property management benefits including leveraged pricing of products and services, $50 million insurance policy, real-time services validation, instant invoicing, automatic service audits and data analysis to ensure quality and cost efficiency. SMS Assist is revolutionizing multisite property management services for its growing list of national and Fortune 500 clients including Family Dollar, JPMorgan Chase (NYSE: JPM), O'Reilly Automotive, Inc. (NASDAQ: ORLY) and Invitation Homes Inc. (NYSE: INVH). To learn more, visit smsassist.com.
