On 10/29/2025, PAR platforms experienced a service disruption.

This incident was the result of a widespread Microsoft Azure outage that affected numerous software providers. While this disruption was outside of our control, we are actively evaluating additional redundancies to reduce the risk of similar service interruptions in the future. We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused.

Melissa A. Messer, MHS

Vice President of R&D/Chief Product Officer

Melissa A. Messer, MHS, is the Vice President of Research and Development and Chief Product Officer for PAR, Inc. She oversees all new product acquisitions and development as well as the content, production, data, and product owners. Melissa received her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Florida. 

Melissa joined PAR in 2002. During her time at PAR, she has worked on the development of more than 40 products. Melissa is the author of several PAR products, including the Academic Achievement Battery (AAB) series, the Working Styles Assessment (WSA), and the Work Values Inventory (WVI). In addition, she has coauthored multiple editions of John Holland’s Self-Directed Search (SDS).