Definition - Software Product Management
From Product Management School
Product Management is a functional department within Software companies. Product Management is responsible for the overall lifecycle management of a software product or product-line. At small software startups - Product Management may be a functional discipline, rather than a separate department.
It is a business management discipline that dovetails well with the more customer-focused software engineering processes.
Product Management is a customer centric method managing a software product's lifecycle. The primary focus of Product Management is to build products that customers actually want.
The responsibility assigned to Product Management usually includes:
- Overall direction and strategy for the software product/product line.
- Conception of ideas.
- Development of products.
- Introduction of the product to market.
- Management of the product whilst it is in the market.
- Achieving effective marketing & sales of the software.
This is an extensive responsibility that often impacts many business functions. Cross-functional cooperation is critical for achieving a strong Product Management function within a software company.
Why Software Companies Need Product Management
There are often considerable benefits to be gained by a software company with a strong Product Management function:
- Improved software quality by having the customer’s voice in mind during the entire process as well as the benefits of cross functional teams working in concert.
- Reduced time to market by getting the software right the first time around.
- Cost savings by reduction of rework and integration of workflows.
- Enhanced flexibility which enables a software product line to adapt to market changes more quickly.
- Improved profitability. By being in touch with market changes, software products can be easily adapted and improved. New opportunities are much more readily identified.
