Comments on: Will SaaS Lead to the Death of Software Product Management? http://www.pjmconsult.com/index.php/2009/10/will-saas-lead-to-death-of-product.html General Management and Marketing Advice for Software and Tech Companies Sat, 11 Feb 2012 23:42:20 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.1 hourly 1 By: themadpeacock http://www.pjmconsult.com/index.php/2009/10/will-saas-lead-to-death-of-product.html/comment-page-1#comment-58 themadpeacock Wed, 14 Oct 2009 14:28:00 +0000 http://www.pjmconsult.com/wordpress/?p=237#comment-58 I agree fully with your conclusion to a question that is floating around a little too much. Design by committee is tolerable (perhaps) if the product is commoditized and the established leaders are playing a slow game of feature creep one-upmanship. Perhaps then the feature that gets the most votes by the user masses is the right one to add to your product but as you point out true innovation can only come from high quality analysis, interpretation and vision.<br /><br />Socially guided development will give you evolution. Skilled product management will give you innovation and that’s where the money is.<br /><br />Great article, thanks for sharing I agree fully with your conclusion to a question that is floating around a little too much. Design by committee is tolerable (perhaps) if the product is commoditized and the established leaders are playing a slow game of feature creep one-upmanship. Perhaps then the feature that gets the most votes by the user masses is the right one to add to your product but as you point out true innovation can only come from high quality analysis, interpretation and vision.

Socially guided development will give you evolution. Skilled product management will give you innovation and that’s where the money is.

Great article, thanks for sharing

]]> By: Melissa Paulik http://www.pjmconsult.com/index.php/2009/10/will-saas-lead-to-death-of-product.html/comment-page-1#comment-59 Melissa Paulik Tue, 13 Oct 2009 17:31:01 +0000 http://www.pjmconsult.com/wordpress/?p=237#comment-59 Phil, <br /><br />Very interesting discussion. I believe I saw a similar presentation to the one you mentioned. Although I agreed with some of the premise, and disagreed with other points, it also got me thinking about the evolving role of the PM. <br /><br />SaaS, Agile development methodologies, and social media have certainly changed the day to day activities of the product manager. Social media alone makes me pine for my days as a product manager as it gives one so many more ways to engage the market. However, I think there is one fundamental skill that remains as critical in today’s product manager as it was before SaaS et al – leadership. As you said, someone needs to be able to understand the market and extract the “truth” but they also need to have the leadership skills to translate that into a product plan and priorities. Included in leadership is the ability to confidently communicate in a way that gets everyone in the organization buying into the product priorities. <br /><br />I don’t care what title you give that leadership role, it has to be there. <br /><br />All the best! <br /><br />Melissa Phil,

Very interesting discussion. I believe I saw a similar presentation to the one you mentioned. Although I agreed with some of the premise, and disagreed with other points, it also got me thinking about the evolving role of the PM.

SaaS, Agile development methodologies, and social media have certainly changed the day to day activities of the product manager. Social media alone makes me pine for my days as a product manager as it gives one so many more ways to engage the market. However, I think there is one fundamental skill that remains as critical in today’s product manager as it was before SaaS et al – leadership. As you said, someone needs to be able to understand the market and extract the “truth” but they also need to have the leadership skills to translate that into a product plan and priorities. Included in leadership is the ability to confidently communicate in a way that gets everyone in the organization buying into the product priorities.

I don’t care what title you give that leadership role, it has to be there.

All the best!

Melissa

]]> By: Wendy Swift-Rogers, CEO http://www.pjmconsult.com/index.php/2009/10/will-saas-lead-to-death-of-product.html/comment-page-1#comment-60 Wendy Swift-Rogers, CEO Tue, 13 Oct 2009 16:27:39 +0000 http://www.pjmconsult.com/wordpress/?p=237#comment-60 Ideally in the SaaS model, the Users themselves are arguably part of the Product Management team. With the ability to gauge where users are visiting, collect enhancement suggestions from the community and roll these enhancements out routinely, yes, versioning does become a thing of the past. But you could actually make the case that the role of product management is more streamlined and participatory than ever in the SaaS world. Ideally in the SaaS model, the Users themselves are arguably part of the Product Management team. With the ability to gauge where users are visiting, collect enhancement suggestions from the community and roll these enhancements out routinely, yes, versioning does become a thing of the past. But you could actually make the case that the role of product management is more streamlined and participatory than ever in the SaaS world.

]]>