product bytes
Since 2002, Rich Mironov has been writing the Product Bytes newsletter on product management, technology, start-ups and getting things done. With his move to Enthiosys, it is again a monthly column. Here you’ll see all of the latest issues along with reposts of selected favorites. Your thoughts and comments are appreciated!
- Agile Portfolio Planning and Excited CFOs
At Enthiosys, we look at how Agile Product Management changes the broader organization and strategic planning processes – well beyond Engineering. We’re thinking more about how Agile alters one of the most celebrated annual corporate ceremonies: Portfolio Planning and budget allocation... - Infrastructure Field of Dreams
We work with lots of clients on internal infrastructure and shared architecture projects – both from a product management/requirements and evaluating the software architecture itself... - The Accidental Agilist
Over the last few months, we’ve repeatedly heard about product managers who come back from customer visits or vacations to discover that their engineering teams have “gone agile” without telling them. After which, the PMs scramble to figure out how their roles and deliverables are different under a new development model... - Technical Advantage and Competitive Strategy
Products with true technical advantage are rare – and fleeting. Most offerings are lightly differentiated, or not at all. When I hear product folks touting their unbeatable technical superiority, I stop to listen for the footsteps of competitors... - A Planetary View of Agile Product Management
We at Enthiosys are often asked how the shift to Agile changes product management. We normally see PM at the center of everything, so it’s natural to think about other functional organizations as planets in product-centric orbits – and what happens when we move to Agile. Product management is involved with most internal groups, but not equally and not all at the same time... - Who’s Calling Customer Support?
At most software companies, incoming calls to Tech Support don’t match up against customer databases. We’ve worked on this with several clients to identify causes and jointly design solutions. It provides a great case study for how product managers should think: segmenting issues and balancing competing interests as the “CEOs of their products... - burning through Product Managers
Agile software development methods are rapidly being adopted by companies across a wide variety of industries and company sizes because it’s a better way to build software. At several Enthiosys clients, however, we’re seeing product managers (“PMs”) struggle as the product management role becomes more intensely collaborative within an agile development process... - grocers and chefs: software service models
This is based on an April SVPMA talk. I’m talking with more and more with companies considering a shift from traditional licensing models to hosted software-as-a-service (SaaS). It’s important to recognize the radical changes such a move may force within your entire company... - service revenue and upsell marketing
Much of my consulting lately involves on-demand services (aka software-as-a-service, or “SaaS”). I’m seeing ever-growing interest from business customers in subscription pricing and online services, especially since they pay much less “up front” versus software licensing... - avoiding the post-course correction
As early as 1961, Soviet and American space scientists planned for mid-course corrections: those tiny bursts of rocket power designed to keep spacecraft on their trajectories to the Moon, Mars and beyond. With such long voyages, mid-course corrections are crucial to keeping space flights on track with the minimum of effort – and reserving fuel for later adjustments...