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2019 | Buch

Software Product Management Fundamentals Kapitel lesen Erstes Kapitel lesen

Software Product Management

Finding the Right Balance for YourProduct Inc.

verfasst von: Timo Wagenblatt

Verlag: Springer International Publishing

Buchreihe : Management for Professionals

Enthalten in: Springer Professional "Wirtschaft+Technik" , Springer Professional "Technik" , Springer Professional "Wirtschaft"

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SUCHEN

Über dieses Buch

This book is for product managers, product owners, product marketing managers, VPs and Heads of Product, CEOs, and start-up founders. In short, it serves anyone interested personally or professionally in software product management. You’ll learn how to plan, coordinate and execute all activities required for software product success. It enables you to find the right balance for delivering customer value and long-term product success.

The book offers a comprehensive introduction for beginners as well as proven practices and a novel, holistic approach for experienced product managers. It provides much-needed clarity regarding the numerous tasks and responsibilities involved in the professional and successful management of software products. Readers can use this book as a reference book if they are interested in or have the urgent need to improve one of the following software product management dimensions: Product Viability, Product Development, Go-to-Market / Product Marketing, Software Demonstrations and Training, The Market / Your Customers, or Organizational Maturity.

The book helps product people to maximize their impact and effectiveness. Whether you’re a seasoned practitioner, new to software product management, or just want to learn more about the best-of-all disciplines and advance your skills, this book introduces a novel and “business” tested approach to structure and orchestrate the vital dimensions of software product management. You will learn how to create focus and alignment on the things that matter for product success.

The book describes a holistic framework to keep the details that matter for product success in balance, taking into consideration the limiting factors, strategies and responsibilities that determine the overall product yield potential. It explains how to leverage and adapt the framework with regard to aspects like product viability, product development, product marketing and software demonstrations and training, as well as more general aspects like markets, customers and organizational maturity.

The book focuses on the unique challenges of software product managers or any related roles, whether you are a founder of a small to mid-sized software company or working in the complex ecosystems of large software enterprises or corporate IT departments.

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Frontmatter

Setting the Scene and Introducing the Product Yield Potential Radar

Frontmatter
Chapter 1. Software Product Management Fundamentals
Abstract
Software Product Management is one of the most important and rewarding, and yet challenging, domains in the software industry. The benefits associated with Software Product Management excellence are significant and the notion of being a product-led organization is a hot topic and a prerequisite to attracting the best talent in the industry. This chapter introduces and defines my view of Software Product Management after 20 years in the industry, where I started as a business analyst, contributing individually, to my current position as Head of Product, where I lead a product organization at SAP today. We’ll discover how Software Product Management can relate to a forest ranger’s job and why Software Product Management is actually required as a practice in every software company and corporate IT organization. We will examine all the stakeholders involved in the process and how they relate to the six dimensions of software product management: Product Viability, Product Development, Go-to-Market/Product Marketing, Software Demonstrations and Trainings, The Market/Your Customers, and Organizational Maturity. In this chapter, we will also define the following terms: (1) Management and its special form of Software Product Management. (2) Product and the specialties of software products, digital products and data products. (3) Software Product Managers and the T-shaped superhero capes they wear. (4) Product teams and the role of product managers. The definitions and groundwork will be followed by an interpretation of the latest Product Management Festival survey (Trends & Benchmarks in Product Management, 2018), which provides brilliant insights into the current state of Software Product Management, the role of Software Product Managers and the importance of their managers.
Timo Wagenblatt
Chapter 2. The Product Yield Potential Radar
Abstract
This chapter introduces a novel and “business” tested way to structure the vital dimensions of Software Product Management. You will learn how to create focus and alignment on the things that matter for product success that product managers and product teams must master day to day. You will learn about the Product Yield Potential Radar and how this framework can drive an ongoing discipline that helps the whole product team and product organization to
  • understand all the required ingredients for product success in your context
  • consistently assess the weak and strong parts when holistically assessing your product
  • decide, based on a common understanding where focus and time investments are required
  • find the right balance for product longevity and continuous improvement.
We will cluster all important Software Product Management activities into six dimensions. We will examine and detail each dimension by defining for each dimension, the tasks and items that are important to achieve the product’s full potential. Then we will look at how all dimensions together define and limit the yield potential of a software product. We will further examine how to agree and define for each stakeholder the role and responsibilities within each Software Product Management dimension.Additionally, I will introduce the law of the minimum and the law of tolerance that together illustrate how well product managers can use the Product Yield Potential Radar to recognize the limiting factors of product success. We will leverage the knowledge and insights from other research disciplines to improve our understanding of managing software products, from the initial idea to market leadership.
Timo Wagenblatt
Chapter 3. PYPR—On Your Mark, Get Set and Go Toward Software Product Management Excellence
Abstract
Becoming excellent as a product manager, a product team and a product organizationorganization is what we are all striving for. Delivering excellent products that make a difference is our goal. In this chapter, I will detail how PYPR supports you in your job as a product manager, providing the leadership that the product team, your organization and especially the success of your product requires. First, I will explain, how the Product Yield Potential Radar supports you in being the General Manager of YourProduct Inc. As the General Manager, your success depends on your ability to align all stakeholders and constantly improve the limits of what matters for your product and organization. Second, I will describe how the Product Yield Potential Radar can be leveraged as a communication tool for all stakeholders. As a product manager you need to understand your stakeholder network and clarify the roles and responsibilities, and your level of engagement, within the product team and with all other stakeholders. Third, I will provide you with some final tips and tricks to get PYPR started, or in other words how to finally leverage the out-of-the-box PYPR set-up and adapt PYPR continuously to your own context as it becomes a habit for you, the product team and the organization.
Timo Wagenblatt

PYPR Software Product Management Dimensions in Detail

Frontmatter
Chapter 4. Product Viability
The (Financial) Value-Based Part of your Software Product Manager Role
Abstract
Product viability is the ability of a software product to maintain itself or recover its potentials. Product viability is determined by three dimensions. Viable products need to be profitable, implementable, and scalable. Profitable products are probably the primary objective for most organizations. Generally, software product profitability compares revenues versus product-related costs. Products need to be implementable as the ease of implementation determines the speed of adoption. Products need to be scalable as the ability to scale determines the product growth potential. This chapter describes in detail the Product Viability dimension that represents “The (Financial) Value-Based Part of the Software Product Manager Role.” The chapter explains the Product Viability dimension in much more detail, focusing on the techniques to assess, understand, monitor, and improve the financial and value-based part of the product manager role. I will introduce some of the tools, templates, and key performance indicators I used in my career, as well as the practices I learned and developed to assess and improve this important dimension.
Timo Wagenblatt
Chapter 5. Product Development
The Essential Part of Your Software Product Manager Role
Abstract
This chapter describes in detail the Product Development dimension that represents “The Essential Part of the Software Product Manager Role.” Without a product, Software Product Management is not required. The product is the reason for the department’s and the product team’s existence. In that sense, this PYPR dimension is truly essential. In this chapter, I will focus on key concepts and proven practices that will help you as a product manager to be more successful. The focus will be on the role of the product manager, and how to leverage PYPR as a framework to instill a holistic product perspective—the main focus of this book. The role of the product manager is to lead the team to an aligned product vision and strategy, plan the product activities to achieve the vision and support the execution toward the product vision. PYPR helps clarifying to everyone the elements that matter to achieve a viable product over and above the Product Development dimension. By doing so, PYPR clarifies Software Product Management’s contribution to product success and longevity. This dimension requires a product manager that leads product development, provides transparency, and has clear communication paired with empathy. If I’m adding team performance and team culture to the mix, and not leaving out product quality, then we complete the Product Development dimension and the focus of this chapter.
Timo Wagenblatt
Chapter 6. Go-to-Market/Product Marketing
The Outbound Part of your Software Product Manager Role
Abstract
This chapter describes in detail the Go-to-Market/Product Marketing PYPR dimension that represents “The Outbound Part of the Software Product Manager Role.” The outbound part of the product manager role focuses on awareness creation, translating the value of your product into leads, incremental sales opportunities, and product success in the current installed base and net new customers and users. Depending on your product, success might be measured by adoption, product profitability, or any other north star that we discussed in Chap. 4. Independent of the organizational setup, as a product manager you are indispensable in this dimension as you are heavily involved and driving this PYPR dimension or you are significantly contributing to its outcomes. As a product manager, your attention on this PYPR dimension is vital, because the Go-to-Market/Product Marketing dimension has the potential to determine product success and could easily become a limiting factor to the product’s yield potential. To safeguard product success, your attention and focus is required on the following topics:
  • Sales and marketing teams are provided with useful assets to do their job
  • Professional services and partner ecosystem are fully equipped for success
  • Competitive landscape is monitored; insights are derived, leveraged and shared
  • The market and your customers are informed about your latest capabilities and understand the positioning and value of your product
The product launch plan is the central piece of work that puts a conclusive frame around all important aspects of the Go-to-Market/Product Marketing dimension. If you consider these basics, then your chances to deliver the right messages, to the right people, at the right time significantly increases.
Timo Wagenblatt
Chapter 7. Software Demonstrations and Training
The Showcase Part of your Software Product Manager Role
Abstract
Software product demonstrations and product training are frequently your product’s first impression to anyone outside the product team. What’s the role of the product manager here? Usually you are not the one demonstrating your product, nor will you conduct the product training. You are the General Manager of YourProduct Inc., you are the product manager and that’s why you care that there are valuable software demos and relevant product trainings that underline the product position in relevant product trainings.
This chapter explains the Software Demonstrations and Training PYPR dimension that represents “The Showcase Part of the Software Product Manager Role.” Due to its importance and according to my experience, that there are still many issues with software demonstrations, I consider Software Demonstrations and Training as being its own dimension and not part of the Go-to-Market dimension.
We will examine in more detail the various software demonstrations and training types to improve the items of this PYPR dimension, and the essentials to be considered as well as some proven practices that worked for me in various situations over the last decade. The tools and templates provided are selected, proven practices that worked in my context.
Although the dimension weights seem relatively low, I frequently considered this dimension to be the stepchild of product management and with that the limiting factor of product success.
Timo Wagenblatt
Chapter 8. The Market/Your Customers
The Purpose of your Software Product Manager Role
Abstract
Finding prospects in the vast market and creating satisfied customers that value your software product—that’s your purpose as a product manager and the lifeline of Software Product Management. This chapter describes in detail The Market /Your Customers dimension that represents “The Purpose of the Software Product Manager Role”.
This PYPR dimension focuses on the external view of your product, including
  • the target market and customer perception of your product,
  • customer engagements and communities,
  • customer support and references,
  • thought leadership,
  • influencers, and analysts.
As product managers, we are continuously talking to the market and to existing customers. The target market segment defines your potential for product growth, while the existing customers define the adoption of your product.
As the General Manager of YourProduct Inc., you balance market and customer requirements. You balance the special attention required for current product capabilities (e.g. Go-to-Market, software demonstrations, training, enablement), for future product capabilities (e.g. product vision, strategy and planning), and the manifestation of your work (e.g. user feedback, surveys, references) regarding customers, prospects, and other external matters.
Timo Wagenblatt
Chapter 9. Organizational Maturity
The Environmental Conditions of Your Software Product Manager Role
Abstract
This chapter details PYPR’s Organizational Maturity dimension that represents “The Environmental Conditions of your Software Product Manager Role.” I will outline how even the best product managers cannot provide full value to their organization, if the organization doesn’t provide some basic environmental qualities. Product managers and product teams that can’t provide their best deliver products that are not at their full potential.
Consequently, PYPR considers organizational maturity as one significant dimension that determines product success. I will focus on the kind of environmental conditions in software organizations that are good or bad for product managers, product teams, and product success. We will discover and evaluate what are the most important areas necessary to become a more mature product organization as well as how to attract and retain the best Software Product Management talent.
No two organizations are alike and organizational systems are complex. Therefore, maturity models are used to explain organizational systems. Product Organization Maturity models are, like any model, simplifications that highlight the importance and existence of maturity enablers across:
  • Product Management Leadership, Vision and Strategy
  • Organizational Set-up, Processes and Governance
  • People Mindset supported by Key Principles
  • Templates and Tools
Timo Wagenblatt

Case Studies Applying PYPR

Frontmatter
Chapter 10. Listen—PYPRs in Action
Leveraging PYPR Toward Software Product Management Excellence
Abstract
In this chapter you get an introduction how PYPR has been used to improve the success of various products with different characteristics and setups. We will investigate how product teams applied PYPR, which insights they got and the benefits they could achieve. The chapter outlines how PYPR has been applied successfully in practice by various product teams. I will concentrate only on a few, diverse examples that explain the various usage options of PYPR. First, I will introduce a B2B product, well established in the market, utilizing machine learning in the product, focused on one dedicated industry. Second, I will introduce a product that focuses on a much broader target market, is highly successful in terms of product viability, but is impacted by a product manager losing focus of the product manager role responsibilities. In case study three, I will introduce a product manager who leveraged PYPR as a checklist for self-awareness and understanding all aspects to be considered in product management in the early stages of his career. Last but not least, I will introduce a case study of an internal IT product team trying PYPR for the first time in order to increase product management maturity in an IT Business Services team.The case studies are just a glimpse of the PYPR applications; however, I think they will be useful for following reasons:
  • They showcase real-world applications of applying PYPR
  • They help you to understand the positive impact PYPR can generate
  • They also indicate challenges that can arise as transparency kicks in when utilizing PYPR.
Timo Wagenblatt
Backmatter
Metadaten
Titel
Software Product Management
verfasst von
Timo Wagenblatt
Copyright-Jahr
2019
Electronic ISBN
978-3-030-19871-8
Print ISBN
978-3-030-19870-1
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-19871-8