Product Managementfor Hi-TechRoger Hecker

October 2001

Session Roadmap

• What is Product Management?

• Real Life Product Management

• Q&A

What is Product Management?

• Product Lifecycle Management– Define product requirements– Design the product– Develop the product– Test the product– Sell the product

• Single Point of Contact– Design– Status– Strategy

What is Product Management?Define Product Requirements

• Inputs from:– Sales– Business Development– Management– R&D

• Target Markets, Partners and Customers• Revenue Dependencies• Competitors• Corporate Strategy

What is Product Management?Design the Product

• Understand what is technically possible• Product Specifications

– User Interfaces– Functionality and Performance– Feature Priorities– Dependencies and Implications– Rough implementation timeline per

feature/version

What is Product Management?Develop the Product

• Ensure that R&D is developing the product:– According to design– In line with priorities– On schedule

• Reprioritize during development:– R&D surprises, both pleasant and unpleasant– Sales, BizDev, Mgmt surprises– Changing timeframes

What is Product Management?Test the Product

• Prioritize major bugs

• Set up Beta sites

• Manage Beta process

• Release product

What is Product Management?Sell the Product

• Establish prices for product/features• Establish marketing strategy for new

product/features based on:– Price/Performance ratio– ROI– Competitors– Corporate strategy– Installed base for upgrades

• Educate the sales, marketing and BizDev teams on the strategies

What is Product Management?Sell the Product (continued)

• Ensure that the marketing team:– Creates Presentations– Writes and Designs Brochures/Data Sheets– Writes and Publishes White Papers– Creates Competitive Matrices– Creates and distributes channel kits with:

• Literature and Presentations• Pricing lists and tools (configurators, if applicable)• Case Studies

– Trains Channel sales teams

What is Product Management?Sell the Product (continued)

• Ensure that the technical writers are writing:– User Manuals– Installation Manuals– Maintenance Manuals

• Ensure that the training/support team:– Is knowledgeable about all new features,

functionalities, bugs and workarounds– Has all necessary equipment to support new functions– Creates appropriate training materials– Trains channel support teams

What is Product Management? Single Point of Contact

• The one place to go for authoritative answers on Design, Status and Strategy:– How is this supposed to work?– How is this feature coming along? – Can I promise this to my customer?– Has this bug been fixed yet?– How are we positioned against competitor X?– Will we support this feature in the future? When?

Who is a Product Manager?

• Power without Authority• Everybody’s Friend:

– Management– R&D– Marketing & Sales– Business Development

• Assertive• Detail-oriented

Real Life Product ManagementConflicting Interests

• To R&D, Marketing people seem to be:– Superficial– Big spenders– Not the brightest stars in the Milky Way

• To Marketing, R&D people seem to be:– Secretive– Stubborn– Insensitive to market requirements

Real Life Product ManagementTaking Both Sides

• Gain the trust of R&D – Understand the technical issues deeply

– Keep surprises as surprises

– Investigate feature requests thoroughly

• Gain the trust of Marketing & Sales– Provide frequent, accurate and updated status on all

features

– Go on sales calls personally with sales team

– Be the main resource for marketing strategy, especially competitors’ products and features

Summary

• Lifecycle Management– Define– Design– Develop– Test– Sell

• Single Point of Contact– Authoritative voice

• Everybody’s friend– Earns respect from all departments

Thank You