Who owns the product?
We ask this question almost immediately when working with the client. Whether our client is a software company or a corporation developing a complex internal application, product – or requirements – management is the most important core competency to get right.
There are many important elements in the product management process: determining market opportunity, defining market segmentation strategy, aligning product capabilities with the market segment needs, confirming revenue potential (are customers willing to pay to solve the problem), developing product packaging & licensing models (will this be profitable for us), and finally defining and building the product.
At the end, product management process converts a statement of need expressed by a customer or market into a clear definition of how certain functionality will meet this need over time.
This is a complicated process subject to continuous adjustments: new requirements, updated requirements, technical architecture shifts, and changes in market and financial priorities. Change is the only constant in a product management process.
Some real world examples of why your product management, or requirements management, process may need help:
“We seem to be stuck in never ending discussions about what and how to build”
“Why do we always seem to react to (instead of anticipating and planning for) emergencies?”
“How do we validate if this new and expensivefunctionality will generate revenue?”
“We don’t really have product managers. It’s done by a committee”
“We don’t trust the sales team. We know what customers want”
“Why is our documentation always written after the product launch?”
How agileSEQUENT can help
We are expert product managers. From reviewing product requirements to acting as interim product managers while helping you build the right organization, agileSEQUENT consultants can help.
Our product management services include:
- Analyze market opportunity: review market opportunity, confirm market positioning, audit product roadmap (features / functions over time)
- Build product management organization: act as interim product managers, interface with Software Engineering – act as release managers where necessary, help hire the right team, align Product Management activities with agile Software Engineering practices.
- Implement product management process: there are three steps in a rigorous, effective product management process: MRD (marketing requirements definition), PRD (product requirements definition), and FRD (functional requirements definition). We will help you implement this process from start to finish, including training your team
- Create product collateral library: define product collateral structure, including product datasheets, white papers, and customer success stories.
For more information
Please contact sales@agilesequent.com for more information about our Product Management consulting services.
