It is always about creating a solution or product that the customer wants. With products continually evolving in the competitive market landscape, software development processes require active management, from its inception to delivery. To attain this goal, project management helps create the product roadmap and focus on its long-term success.
Product management is all about understanding customers’ needs and setting the tone and vision of the software product and, integrating it into its development cycle. Anticipating and handling issues through the process, envisioning better or newer ways to get that competitive edge make product management an important aspect in the software development industry. Technology giants and blue-chip companies are known to achieve the height of product success due to streamlined product management carried out by talented product managers.
Here are the top 7 reasons that will help you understand why product management is all so important in the software industry.
1. Access and analyze customer needs:
The process of product management begins with the building of its prototype and ends with the successful delivery of the matured content. It involves a process of fine business analysis, matching the correct user persona and mapping the right technology for the product development. One of the first objectives of product management is gauging the changing and evolving needs of target customers. During the initial stages of the development process, a specialized/dedicated project manager continually tracks customer behavior, understands their needs and product use patterns. The product prototype is built on all such statistics to ensure full-proof results.
2. Products are customized:
Products are built according to specific business and customer eco-systems. While solutions are becoming simpler for users and customers, the task of their development is increasingly becoming complex. As the value of the business and its related services ecosystem are on the rise, product development processes are becoming increasingly complex affairs.
Solutions are no longer monolithic in nature but integrate the gamut of technology related to the product. This makes product building lifecycle complex with newer features, more additions and improvements. Overseeing application programming interface as a product, removing silos and managing the developer ecosystem are essential to arrive at a robust product delivery stage. Only a robust product management by competent personnel can make this happen successfully.
3. Create product roadmap:
To be able to develop the best product for a competitive market, it is imperative to build a development blueprint or roadmap. Choosing the correct option from among the available and trending methodologies goes a long way in developing a product. As products are customized, the development process should have the clear overview of the entire software building process which is best done in parts, tested and set into the integrated whole. Building the roadmap following the Agile or Scrum methods are all integral parts of product management process that will ensure its hassle-free development and smooth delivery.
4. Product development utilizes appropriate skills and job roles:
The process of product management involves choosing and deploying the right skill sets for the development process. Building the right team of professionals well-versed in the right technology while harboring team spirit is the key to moving smoothly with the development cycle of the product. This is a crucial part in the overall project management as a single resource mismatch can ruin the best of development plans. Choosing the right resources comes close to the heels of the set roadmap of product development, all of which are integral parts of product management process.
5.Initiate cost-effective development models:
The scope of product management covers the use of appropriate technologies, the best development processes and most effective yet low-cost methods. The ambit of product management then involves the building of economical and viable products with high performance to make a meaningful and fruitful impact in the market. This is extremely important for startups and small businesses that operate on limited budget and at the same time have restricted delivery timeline to get the best return on investment (ROI).
6. Set up a collaborative work approach:
Developing a product for startups and mid-sized businesses often call for implementing changes. These may happen due to change in business model that directly impacts the right product development. In all such cases only product management with the help of a product manager can help track changes and implement innovative changes in the final product. The process also helps involve the product owner and the development team work together in unison and collaboration instead of imposing sudden external changes.
Continual tracking of the product development, its testing and incorporating changes together contribute to the building of the best products following best project management techniques.
7. Product needs a mentor:
You need someone who thinks and acts like a CEO, is willed and oriented, is as much involved in overseeing day-to-day engineering as developing the right methodologies when developing a product. Such a mentor shares your ideas and ideals of your startup or organization and shape the product development ambit in keeping with them. This is a crucial part of the product management process where the product mentor shares your company culture and passes it down to the product itself. The mentor wears the team jersey, connects you with the rest of the team and shape experiences that mirror your own objective. Product management then includes product manager mentors that help others imbibe the same product perspective as yours for best results.
Concluding remarks
As better platforms based on higher technologies emerge, software product development processes are likely to get more complex. Streamlining of the product development lifecycle from inception to deliver can only take place when there is a strong product management in place with a product manager at its helm. To roll out products that meet the exact demands of customers, you need to manage each step of its development to give it the color and flavor of your organization while incorporating best technologies that also make the process cost-effective.
