ProdMark Solutions offers a wide range of Product Management consulting services aimed at providing “best practice” solutions for your organization. Click on any of the suggested consulting engagements below to learn how ProdMark Solutions can help ease your Product Management process:
- Strategic Product Roadmap Planning
- Product Management “Best Practices”
- Product Requirements Definition (PRD) Creation
- Managing the Product Development Process
- Beta Program Management
- Usability Study
- Export Compliance
- SKU Creation Strategy
- Packaging Creation & Bills of Materials (BOMs)
- Post Mortem / Team Efficiency Study
- Custom Product Management Consulting
- Short- & Long-Term Product Management Staffing
Product Management consulting engagement descriptions:
Strategic Product Roadmap Planning
Having a solid 18-month Product Roadmap provides significant benefits. It shows partners and customers (under NDA) that your company has a vision for the future and it allows your employees to plan ahead in terms of resource planning and prioritization as well as PR campaign planning. Does your company have a solid 18-month Product Roadmap?
Project Activities
- Conduct numerous one-on-one interviews with key members of the Product Management, Product Marketing, Product Development, Sales, SE, Consulting and Executive staffs to solicit feedback and direction for products to be created over the next 18 months.
- Conduct numerous one-on-one interviews with key reselling partners (if applicable) and customers.
- Ensure a Feature Enhancement Database (or equivalent) is in-place to capture all feature requests and requests for new products. If not, then create a basic database.
- Create the first draft of a proposed Product Roadmap to serve as a “starting point”.
- Host a large 1-2 day Product Planning Meeting where key employees around the company will meet to define the 18-month Product Roadmap.
- Revise the Product Roadmap based upon decisions made in the Product Planning Meeting.
Project Deliverables
- Summarized notes from all one-on-one interviews
- Product Roadmap template
- Final Product Roadmap
Product Management “Best Practices”
Does your company utilize field-proven Product Management “Best Practices”? ProdMark Solutions can help you implement positive habits into your Product Management organization to ease the overall product development and delivery process.
Project Activities
- Introduce common Product Management documentation, such as a Product Development Flow Chart, PBOs (Proposals for Business Opportunities), PRDs (Product Requirements Definition), Schedules of Milestones (SOMs) and Product Development Meeting Minutes.
- Create product End-of-Life (EOL) strategies which include End-of-Sale, End-of-Maintenance (EOM) and End-of-Support (EOS) milestones.
- Introduce Bug Classification methodologies to properly classify, prioritize and respond to product deficiencies.
- Create Beta and/or Early Access Program policies to gain beta feedback response and build momentum for upcoming product launches.
- Ensure consistency with EULAs (End User License Agreements), Splash Screens, and Help About boxes across all products.
Project Deliverables
- A customized report that depicts all of the mutually agreed-upon “best practices” to help drive your Product Management process.
- All relevant Product Management templates customized for your environment.
Product Requirements Definition (PRD) Creation
It’s never too early to ship the wrong product! By defining a product properly and early using a proven PRD (Product Requirements Definition) template, you can maximize the chances that your Development team will develop the product you are looking for while minimizing the potential for “scope creep”.
Project Activities
- Propose a Product Requirements Definition (PRD) template to the Product Management, Product Development, Test/QA and Documentation teams and gain consensus on an agreed-upon template.
- Gain consensus across the entire team on the PRD approval process, including how subsequent changes to the PRD should be requested and approved.
- Write a PRD for a given product to provide a good example of what a solid PRD should look like.
Project Deliverables
- Customized PRD template
- First draft and/or final draft of a customized product PRD
Managing the Product Development Process
Managing the Product Development Process does not have to be painful. Given careful planning, products can be delivered on time and on budget utilizing a team-based Product Development approach.
Project Activities
- Meet with key members of Product Management and Product Development to develop an agreed-upon Product Development Flow Chart, Schedule of Milestones template and Meeting Minutes template.
- Initiate weekly Product Development Team Meetings (if not already in place) and conduct meetings on a weekly basis.
- Ensure meeting minutes are taken and published before the next meeting.
- Conduct a Post Mortem survey and meeting following RTM (Release to Manufacturing).
Project Deliverables
- Product Development Flow Chart
- Agreed-upon Schedule of Milestones
- Weekly Meeting Minutes template
- Weekly Meeting Minutes
- Post Mortem survey results
Beta Program Management
Beta cycles are often overlooked in a product development schedule for any of three reasons-insufficient time, insufficient resources and/or insufficient evaluation feedback. Unfortunately, valuable customer feedback is missed if a beta program is skipped. ProdMark Solutions can assist with managing an effective beta program from start to finish, providing you with the data you need to ensure your product is truly meeting the needs of your customers, in terms of functionality, usability and quality.
Project Activities
- Gather a list of willing beta participants from Sales and SEs.
- Contact Beta participants by phone and/or e-mail to discuss the beta program. Send beta software to participants.
- Create a beta survey using WebSurveyor (or other on-line survey utility) and submit survey to beta participants.
- Collect beta feedback and submit to Product Management with recommendations.
- Work with PR to target beta customers for quotes in upcoming press releases and/or other press activities (if applicable).
Project Deliverables
- Beta participants contact list
- Beta survey
- Summarized beta feedback and recommendations
- List of beta participants willing to provide quotes for PR activities
Usability Study
Your products may be leading edge, but how usable are they? Can your end-users complete simple tasks easily and without instruction? A feature is only useful if it can be used. ProdMark Solutions can conduct a formal usability study with a small group of your customers while your Product Managers and members of your Product Development Team observe and document product usability.
Project Activities
- Thoroughly review the UI of the product. Work with Product Management to identify a set of common tasks to be completed by usability study participants.
- Work with Sales and SEs to invite customers to participate in a ½-day usability study. Participants will receive a discount or a free copy of the product when available.
- Recruit individuals from Product Management and Product Development to capture usability findings.
- Create a usability observation form to be completed by company employees evaluation participants.
- Create a list of tasks to be completed by participants.
- Create an end-of-session survey to be completed by participants.
- Conduct the usability study followed by a debriefing session with observing employees.
- Compile all usability feedback and recommendations into a report and presentation. Deliver the presentation to appropriate individuals in Product Management and Product Development.
Project Deliverables
- Usability study participants contact list
- Customized task list
- Customized usability observation form
- A usability summary report and PowerPoint presentation
Export Compliance
All products containing 128-bit or stronger encryption must achieve export approval from the U.S. Department of Commerce Bureau of Industry & Security (BIS) (formerly BXA, Bureau of Export Administration). ProdMark Solutions can help you achieve License Exception “ENC” and allow you to export products with strong encryption technology outside the United States and Canada. ProdMark can also help you identify and overcome import restrictions with select countries in Asia (i.e., China) and Eastern Europe (i.e., Russia).
Project Activities
- Identify those products containing 128-bit or greater encryption.
- Create an account on BIS’ SNAP (“Simplified Network Application Process”) on behalf of your company.
- File for License Exception ENC. Work with Product Development to complete “Supplemental No. 6 to Part 742” encryption technology supporting documentation.
- Ensure License Exception ENC approval documentation is forwarded to you by BIS.
- Compile a list of countries that your company may import your products (with strong encryption) into. Cross reference the list with countries that have import restrictions on encryption technology (i.e., China, Russia, etc.). If any countries are present, ProdMark Solutions will recommend specific counsel in those countries with import restrictions to help you achieve import approval.
Project Deliverables
- License Exception “ENC” approval documentation
- Instructions for bi-annual reporting of export activities
- Referrals to international counsel (if applicable)
SKU Creation Strategy
Does your company offer many different products, perhaps even at different pricing tiers? Does your company allow its customers / reselling partners the ability to order products by SKU (“Stock Keeping Unit”)? If not, then implementing a SKU Creation Strategy will make it easier for your customers and/or resellers to order product while minimizing confusion in Order Entry and Accounting.
Project Activities
- Conduct a series of one-on-one interviews with Product Management and Order Entry to determine SKU requirements. Summarize interview responses.
- Create a Master Price List if not already present.
- Propose a SKU Creation Strategy to Product Management and Order Entry.
- Finalize SKU Creation Strategy based on feedback. Create SKUs for all existing products (and Services, if applicable).
Project Deliverables
- Interview response summary
- SKU Creation Strategy document
- Master Price List (if applicable) with approved SKUs
Packaging Creation & Bills of Materials (BOMs)
Does your company produce physical “shrink wrapped” units of your software or hardware? If so, do you have a formalized method of providing instructions for building physical units to your manufacturer? If not, then ProdMark Solutions can help you to create a customized Bill of Materials (BOM) template to make it easy to capture your physical packaging requirements. ProdMark Solutions can even design your packaging, including all artwork, right down to the silkscreen artwork for your CD-ROMs.
Project Activities
- Conduct a series of one-on-one interviews with appropriate company employees to determine how products are produced and requirements for physical packaging.
- Propose a BOM template and make edits to that template based on company feedback.
- Create sample BOMs for one or more products to be produced.
- Propose artwork for ALL components to be physically manufactured.
Project Deliverables
- Compiled interview responses
- BOM template and sample product BOMs
- Packaging artwork (if applicable)
Post Mortem / Team Efficiency Study
The product development process is not complete until a “Post Mortem” study has been completed for EVERY major product delivery. Each time a major new product is released, the product development process should get easier and easier-but only if you learn from your mistakes.
Project Activities
- Conduct a series of one-on-one interviews with Product Management and Product Development to gain an overall feel for the company’s existing product development process.
- Create a Post Mortem survey using WebSurveyor (or other on-line survey tool) to capture product development feedback.
- Submit the survey to all appropriate company personnel. Capture survey feedback into a PowerPoint presentation.
- Conduct a 2-4 hour Post Mortem meeting. Capture additional feedback in the meeting and amend the PowerPoint presentation accordingly. Capture a list of “Top 3 Key Take-Aways” for each functional group-Product Management,
- Product Development, Test/QA, Documentation, and Support.
Project Deliverables
- Post Mortem survey
- Post Mortem PowerPoint presentation
- Top 3 Key Take-Aways list
Custom Product Management Consulting
This list of Product Management Consulting Engagements represents common challenges faced by any Product Management organization. But it by no means represents 100% of the challenges faced on a day-to-day basis. ProdMark Solutions is ready to tackle any Product Management challenge you are facing. Contact us today to discuss how we can turn your Product Management challenges into ProdMark Solutions.
Short-& Long-Term Product Management Staffing
Are you unable to find good Product Management talent? Are you hindered by a stringent budget that prevents you from adding the headcount you need to complete your Product Management team? If the answer is “yes” to either of these questions, ProdMark Solutions can help by placing experienced Product Management talent into temporary positions to help meet the short-term and/or long-term needs of your employer.