VersionOne Endorses Enthiosys Roadmapping

I'm writing this brief post from the Agile2010 where earlier this morning I got a demo of the new VersionOne roadmapping functionality from Bob Vincent, one of the product managers from VersionOne. I'm quite encouraged by what I saw.

Full disclaimer: VersionOne has been a client of Enthiosys. We've helped them prioritize their product backlog with Innovation Games® online. Several VersionOne employees are trained Innovation Games® facilitators. And, VersionOne employees have also attended a variety of classes I've taught in my role as a Strategic Advisor on Product Management and Strategy for OpenView Partners.

Unlike other roadmapping offerings, VersionOne has chosen to release a clean and simple roadmapping tool based on the pattern language for strategic product roadmapping that I first published in Beyond Software Architecture. I was very pleased to see how easy it was to create "swimlanes" that represent the core strategic elements of the product and how simple it was to create new items. It is an admirable first release.

More importantly, I appreciated exploring Bob's vision for how this offering will evolve. Like all good product managers,  Bob has some excellent ideas on how to extend the initial version. His vision is compelling, and I was able to directly advocate for many of the more advanced roadmapping techniques that we use with our clients, including radar roadmaps and variable time scales. Bob absorbed all of this.

I am encouraged by what I saw and am looking forward to seeing how their offering will evolve.