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.