Software product management

Software product management is the process of managing software that is built and implemented as a product, taking into account life-cycle considerations and generally with a wide audience. It is the discipline and business process which governs a product from its inception to the market or customer delivery and service in order to maximize revenue. This is in contrast to software that is delivered in an ad hoc manner, typically to a limited clientele, e.g. service.

To develop, sell and support a successful software product a business needs to understand its market, identify the opportunity, develop and market an appropriate piece of software. Hence the need for product management as a core business function in software companies.

Hardware companies may also have a need for software product management, because software is part of the delivery: for example when providing operating systems or software embedded in a device.

The software manager leads and manages one or several products from the inception to the phase-out in order to maximize business value. He or she works with marketing, sales, engineering, finance, quality, manufacturing and installation to make the product a business success (usually engineering and marketing). He has business responsibility beyond a single project. He or she determines what product and features to make and guide fully instruction with engineering team, is accountable for the business success within an entire portfolio. He or she approves the roadmap and content and determines what to and how to innovate. He or she is responsible for the entire value chain of a product following the life cycle. Software product management roles can be further subdivided depending on the focus: Software product marketing managers work at marketing communication activities. Software program managers focus on engineering processes, design, documentation, planning, execution, operations, feedback, so they work with engineering team. Technical product managers collect requirement gathering and communication with clients.

Software product managers can deliver better results by:

Software product management covers all steps from inception of a product to its end of life. It consists of five major phases in the product life-cycle, namely:

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