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Growth through competitive advantage
Product management works closely with Product Engineering teams such as R&D to engineer the products, optimize performance and ensure that strategic product benefits are included to incentivize customers to make a purchase. Product engineering is responsible for the product architecture and technical roadmap as well as any necessary integrations with other products in the portfolio. The relationship between Product Management and Product Engineering is a cyclical and on-going dialogue.
The primary purpose of product management is to lead the product strategy and manage a product’s life cycle. This includes the following key deliverables:
- Portfolio strategy
- Portfolio roadmap
- Product strategy
- Product roadmap
- New product business case
- Technology enhancements or upgrade pitch decks
As part of these responsibilities, product management is also responsible for product margin, pricing, costs, vitality, addressable market analyses and target customer account information.
Effective product management teams proactively monitor and manage threats to product and commercialized technology. They continuously upgrade and enhance the portfolio with regular new product introductions. They end-of-life or exit out of products that are no longer generating a significant portion of revenue to the company’s top line. A product management leader should define thresholds for minimally viable products that product managers should keep in their portfolios.
This includes such metrics as:
- What is the % of sales contribution?
- How many products are in the portfolio?
- Sales performance over the last 8 quarters?
- Competitive threats?
- Vitality index?
An objective analysis of the overall portfolio is required and decisions to exit out of poorly performing products, entering new markets and integrating or developing new technologies should be made.
Some common traps that limit or impede the ability of product management teams:
- The launch of a “Me-Too” product
- Failure to end-of-life outdated or underperforming product
- Failure to refresh and keep the portfolio current
- Failure to launch enough new products
- Failure to define a differentiated product
- Failure to eliminate costs while maintaining the integrity of the product
- Tunnel vision for specific products preventing innovation / growth
- Lack of objectivity in setting competitive pricing
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