Software Product Management (eBook)

Hans-Bernd Kittlaus is the owner and CEO of InnoTivum Consulting, which he founded in 2001. Before he was Director of SIZ GmbH (Computing Center of the German Savings Banks Organization) and Head of Software Product Management and Development units of IBM. His main focus area is software product management. Hans-Bernd has been working as a trainer, coach and consultant for both corporate IT organizations and companies in the IT industry. He has published numerous books and articles, his latest being “Software Product Management and Pricing” (Springer). He is Diplom-Informatiker (corresponds to M.S. in Computer Science) and certified as ISPMA Certified Software Product Manager, Scrum Product Owner, and PRINCE2 Practitioner. He is a member of ACM (Association for Computing Machinery, USA), GI (Gesellschaft für Informatik, Germany) and board member of ISPMA (International Software Product Management Association). Dr. Samuel A. Fricker is Assistant Professor in the Software Engineering Research Laboratory (SERL Sweden) at Blekinge Institute of Technology (BTH). He has more than ten years experience as senior consultant, global process responsible, lecturer, and senior researcher with companies at any scale, from startups to Fortune500. Dr. Fricker is chairperson of the ISPMA. His research interests focus on planning and measuring the success of software products. He was industry chair of the 19th IEEE International Requirements Engineering Conference RE’11, is program chair of the European Requirements Engineering Conference RefsQ 2015, and is a board member of the Product Management Festival.

Preface 6
Contents 9
1: Introduction 11
1.1 About this Book 13
1.2 Conventions 14
2: Management of Software as a Business 16
2.1 A Little History 16
2.1.1 Moore´s Law 17
2.1.2 The Internet 18
2.2 Product Management for Software: Terms and Characteristics 19
2.2.1 Product Platform, Family, and Line 22
2.2.2 Cloud Computing 23
2.3 Software as a Business 25
2.3.1 Low Capital Investment 26
2.3.2 Law of Increasing Returns 27
2.3.3 The Financial Life Cycle of a Software Product 29
2.4 Business Models 30
2.4.1 Describing a Business Model 31
2.4.2 Business Models in the Software Industry: Software Product Company 33
2.4.3 Business Models in the Software Industry: Professional Service vs. Product 34
2.4.4 Business Models in the Software Industry: Open Source 37
2.4.5 Business Models in the Software Industry: Free Commercial Products 39
2.4.6 Business Considerations for Corporate IT Organizations 40
2.5 The Software Product Management Framework 42
2.5.1 The Four Software Product Scenarios 45
2.6 The Role and Organization of SPM 49
2.6.1 Objectives and Success Measurements 49
2.6.2 The Role of the Software Product Manager 52
2.6.3 Organizational Aspects of SPM 54
3: Product Strategy 58
3.1 Product Vision 60
3.1.1 Overview 60
3.1.2 Concept 61
3.1.3 Development of a Product Vision 62
3.1.4 Further Examples and Variations 63
3.1.5 Outcome and Impacts 64
3.1.6 Summary and Conclusions 64
3.2 Product Name 65
3.2.1 Overview 65
3.2.2 Concept 65
3.2.3 Process 66
3.2.4 Summary and Conclusions 67
3.3 Customers 67
3.4 Market 68
3.4.1 Overview 68
3.4.2 Concept 69
3.4.3 Determining a Product´s Market 70
3.4.4 Variations 74
3.4.5 Outcome and Impacts 75
3.4.6 Summary and Conclusions 75
3.5 Product Definition 76
3.5.1 Overview 76
3.5.2 Concept 76
3.5.3 Defining a Product 79
3.5.4 Outcome and Impacts 79
3.5.5 Summary and Conclusions 80
3.6 Positioning 80
3.6.1 Overview 80
3.6.2 Customer Segmentation and Value Proposition 81
3.6.3 Channels 82
3.6.4 Process 84
3.6.5 Outcome and Impacts 85
3.6.6 Summary and Conclusions 86
3.7 Service Strategy 86
3.7.1 Overview 86
3.7.2 Concept 86
3.7.3 Process 87
3.7.4 Outcome and Impacts 88
3.7.5 Summary and Conclusions 88
3.8 Sourcing 88
3.8.1 Overview 88
3.8.2 Concept 88
3.8.3 Decision-Making for Sourcing 90
3.8.4 Summary and Conclusions 90
3.9 Business View 91
3.9.1 Overview 91
3.9.2 Business Case 91
3.9.3 Business Plan 92
3.9.4 Forecasting 93
3.9.5 Cost Structure and Management 93
3.9.6 Revenue Model 95
3.9.7 Bundling 99
3.9.8 Summary and Conclusions 99
3.10 Pricing 100
3.10.1 Overview 100
3.10.2 Concept 100
3.10.3 Subscription-Based Models 103
3.10.4 Summary and Conclusions 104
3.11 Ecosystem Management 105
3.11.1 Overview 105
3.11.2 Concept 105
3.11.3 Partner Programs 109
3.11.4 Summary and Conclusions 110
3.12 Legal Aspects 110
3.12.1 Overview 110
3.12.2 Contracts 110
3.12.3 Protection of Intellectual Property 114
3.12.4 Open Source 118
3.12.5 Data Protection 119
3.12.6 Summary and Conclusions 120
3.13 Performance and Risk Management 121
3.13.1 Overview 121
3.13.2 Performance Management 121
3.13.3 Risk Management 124
3.13.4 Summary and Conclusions 124
3.14 Product Strategy Processes and Documentation 125
3.14.1 Overview 125
3.14.2 Strategy Processes and Yearly Plan 125
3.14.3 Documentation 126
3.14.4 Tools 127
3.14.5 Summary and Conclusions 127
4: Product Planning 128
4.1 Roadmapping 129
4.1.1 Overview 129
4.1.2 Concept 130
4.1.3 Graphical Representations of Roadmaps 133
4.1.4 Roadmapping Process 134
4.1.5 Variations of Roadmapping 136
4.1.6 Summary and Conclusions 138
4.2 Product Requirements Engineering 139
4.2.1 Overview 139
4.2.2 Concepts 140
4.2.3 Requirements Engineering Methodology 143
Powerboat 146
Kano Model: Attractive Attributes (Delighters) 149
Speedboat 149
Kano Model: One-Dimensional Attributes (Satisfiers) 152
Icebreaker 153
Kano Model: Must-Be Attributes (Dissatisfiers) 155
Cruise Ship 156
Kano Model: Indifferent Attributes (Non-requirements) 159
4.2.4 Internationalization 159
4.2.5 Documentation of the Requirements 160
4.2.6 Managing Requirements Engineering 164
4.2.7 Summary and Conclusions 166
4.3 Release Planning 166
4.3.1 Overview 166
4.3.2 Concepts 167
The Release Concept 167
The Release Planning Process 168
Release Trains, Staging, and Product Variants 169
Small vs. Large Releases 171
4.3.3 Release Planning Methods 171
Deciding About a Release Plan 172
Evaluation Criteria 173
Prioritization Techniques 175
Visualizing and Agreeing on Prioritization Results 177
4.3.4 The Release Plan 180
4.3.5 Summary and Conclusions 181
4.4 Product Life Cycle Management 182
4.4.1 Overview 182
4.4.2 The Product and Product Category Life Cycles 182
Life Cycle Model for a Software Product 183
Life Cycle Model for a Product Category 184
4.4.3 Product Planning Tactics 187
Innovating with a New Product in an Immature Product Category 187
New Product in a Mature Product Category 188
Evolution of an Existing Product in a Mature Product Category 189
4.4.4 Summary and Conclusions 190
4.5 Process Measurement and Improvement 190
4.5.1 Overview 190
4.5.2 Product Planning Processes 191
4.5.3 Improving Software Product Management Performance 191
4.5.4 Tool Support 193
4.5.5 Summary and Conclusions 195
5: Strategic Management 197
5.1 Corporate Strategy 198
5.1.1 Overview 198
5.1.2 Concept 199
5.1.3 Process 200
5.1.4 Examples and Variations 203
5.1.5 Outcome and Impacts 203
5.1.6 Summary and Conclusions 204
5.2 Portfolio Management 204
5.2.1 Overview 204
5.2.2 Concept 205
5.2.3 Process 206
5.2.4 Examples and Variations 207
5.2.5 Outcome and Impacts 209
5.2.6 Summary and Conclusions 210
5.3 Innovation Management 210
5.3.1 Overview 210
5.3.2 Concept 211
5.3.3 Process 212
5.3.4 Examples and Variations 213
Lean Startup 213
Idea Generation 213
5.3.5 Outcome and Impacts 214
5.3.6 Summary and Conclusions 215
5.4 Resource Management 215
5.5 Market Analysis 216
5.5.1 Overview 216
5.5.2 Concept 217
5.5.3 Examples and Variations 218
Defining the Addressable Market 218
Industry Analysts 219
5.5.4 Outcome and Inputs 222
5.5.5 Summary and Conclusions 222
5.6 Product Analysis 223
5.6.1 Overview 223
5.6.2 Concept 223
5.6.3 Implementation 225
5.6.4 Summary and Conclusions 226
5.7 Corporate Strategy Processes 226
6: Orchestration of the Organization´s Functional Areas 227
6.1 Role and Processes 229
6.2 Development and UX Design 231
6.2.1 Organizational Setup, Roles, and Processes in Development 232
6.2.2 User Experience (UX) Design 236
6.2.3 SPM´s Focus Areas for Orchestrating Development 237
6.3 Marketing 238
6.3.1 The Marketing Organization 240
6.3.2 Typical Areas of Conflict 243
6.3.3 SPM´s Focus Areas for Orchestrating Marketing 245
6.4 Sales and Distribution 245
6.4.1 Sales Motivation and Compensation 247
6.4.2 The Sales Organization 247
6.4.3 The Sales Cycle 248
6.4.4 Typical Areas of Conflict: Sales 249
6.4.5 SPM´s Focus Areas for Orchestrating Sales and Distribution 251
6.5 Service and Support 251
6.5.1 Typical Areas of Conflict: Service 254
6.5.2 Approaches to Address Conflict: Service and Support 256
6.5.3 SPM´s Focus Areas for Orchestrating Service and Support 257
6.6 Orchestration Skills 257
6.6.1 Virtual Teams and the Matrix Mindset 257
6.6.2 Sources of Power 258
6.6.3 Managing Conflict 258
6.6.4 Negotiation Skills 262
7: SPM Today and Tomorrow 263
7.1 The Future of SPM 263
7.2 The State of Practice 266
7.3 SPM in Different Business Scenarios 269
7.3.1 Standard Software Products 270
7.3.2 Software in Software-Intensive Technical Services 270
7.3.3 Software in Software-Intensive Systems (Embedded Software) 270
7.3.4 Software in Professional (Human) Services (Embedded Software) 271
7.3.5 Software Managed by Corporate IT Organizations 272
7.4 ISPMA 273
Glossary 275
Bibliography 282
Index 295