RE Capital's Visionary Leadership under Newman Leech
ICSOB2012AMaglyas
1.
2. Comparison of Software Product
Management Practices in SMEs
and Large Enterprises
Andrey Maglyas, Uolevi Nikula, Kari Smolander
3. Motivation
− The existing software product management (SPM) frameworks present a
synthesis of SPM practices from observations and studies of the companies
worldwide
− The operational and organizational practices of the companies differ
depending on their characteristics
− For example, COMPANY SIZE may have an impact to adoption of SPM
practices
4. Research Questions
− RQ1: Is there any difference in adoption of SPM
practices in SMEs and large enterprises (LEs)?
− RQ2: Which SPM activities are more important
for SMEs? For LEs?
5. Research Process
− 13 international organizations:
− 17 interviews lasted
− from 40 to 80 min.
− with an average of 52 min.
− Grounded theory as a research method
− Open coding: 257 codes in 42 categories
− Four super categories
6. Sample sets
C o m p Business domain, type of product Size Founde Role of interviewee
any (people) d
Sample set 1: LEs
A Business and operational support systems 10,001+ 1982 Product manager
B International developer and supplier of a wide 1,001-5000 1990 Deputy managing director
range of software, integrated solutions and for R&D
hardware technologies
C Internet applications 1,001-5000 1997 Two product managers
D Security solutions 1,001-5000 1997 Product manager
E Storage management solutions 501-1,000 2002 Product manager
F Developer and provider of telecommunication 501-1,000 2007 Department manager
solutions, software and hardware
Sample set 2: SMEs
G Date security and storage management 101-500 1994 Product manager
H Integrator and developer of software for SME 101-500 1994 Deputy director of
software development
I In-house development of IT solutions 101-500 2000 Senior business analyst
J Developer of software tools 101-500 2000 Product marketing
manager
K Provider and developer of interactive media 101-500 2002 Team lead, project
solutions manager
L Banking software 101-500 2004 Two product managers
M Developer of software products for servers 11-50 2009 Sales director, technical
director
12. Finding 1 LEs are customer-oriented
while SMEs are technically oriented
“I
would
like
to
tell
you
about
our
customers,
because
they
are
important
to
us.
We
have
several
channels
to
collaborate
with
them.
First
of
all,
our
support
is
responsible
for
the
rapid
feedback
to
simple
ques>ons.
The
more
complex
issues
they
redirect
to
me.
The
second
channel
is
an
analysis
of
user
ac>ons,
i.e.
maps
of
their
movements
at
the
website,
requests,
and
ac>ons.
A
lot
of
analy>cal
informa>on
that
helps
us
to
understand
what
is
wrong
and
should
be
improved.”
-‐
Product
Manager
A,
Organiza3on
C
“I
think
it
is
important
to
start
by
describing
our
product.
Our
product
is
a
system
consis>ng
of
hardware
and
soFware.
The
hardware
is
a
standard
server,
which
is
mounted
in
a
rack
full
of
hard
drives.
This
server
runs
our
special
soFware
that
implements
algorithms
for
reliable
preserva>on
of
data.
So,
let
me
briefly
describe
the
technical
side
of
our
solu>on…”
-‐
Sales
Director,
Organiza3on
M
13. Finding 2 LEs have strong and
powerful product managers while in
SMEs product managers have a
limited authority
“Product
manager
should
be
a
director
of
a
small
enterprise
within
the
company.
It
is
a
small
independent
company
with
its
own
budget
and
resources.
AFer
all,
the
most
efficient
scheme
is
when
the
responsibility
and
authority
are
not
shared
between
people.
The
worst
thing
that
can
happen
in
a
soFware
company,
in
any
company,
is
when
the
people
who
use
resources
and
the
people
who
are
responsible
for
product
management
are
different.
Moreover,
a
product
manager
should
have
power
of
decision
making.
Otherwise,
he
is
not
a
product
manager.”
–
Product
Manager
B,
Organiza3on
C.
“No
results
of
our
work
are
obligatory
for
implementa>on.
We
are
just
doing
some
research
and
recommend
things,
explaining
what
is
wrong
and
providing
solu>ons
on
how
it
should
be
done.
The
final
decisions
are
made
by
the
top
management
or
an
engineering
team.”
–
Product
Manager,
Company
G
14. Finding 3 LEs rely on strategic
planning while SMEs are tactically
oriented
“There
is
a
big
difference
between
releasing
once
and
crea>ng
a
product,
which
will
get
4-‐5
service
packs
and
10-‐11
patches
in
the
future.
Therefore,
we
cannot
rely
on
the
short
term
cost
cuVng
ac>ons.
We
always
think
strategically,
some>mes
we
skip
possibili>es
to
get
easy
money
now,
because
we
understand
that
it
affects
our
long
term
strategy.”
–
Product
Manager,
Organiza3on
D.
“Roughly
speaking,
product
management
is
not
concerned
with
planning,
but
with
the
feedback
from
our
users,
our
plans
depend
on
what
they
want
and
need…
We
operate
on
this
basis
mee>ng
their
needs,
using
a
problem-‐oriented
approach.
In
our
case,
the
risks
are
much
greater
than
if
we
did
planning.
I
mean
that
our
compe>>ve
advantage
is
to
react
to
the
users
requests
as
fast
as
possible,
so
planning
is
useless…”
-‐
Project
Manager,
Organiza3on
K
15. Conclusion
− Some SPM activities are common for all organizations regardless of their
size
− There are also SPM activities that are specific for SMEs and LEs
− The differences in the activity affect how the companies manage their
products:
− LEs are customer-oriented while SMEs are technically oriented
− LEs have strong and powerful product managers while in SMEs
product managers have a limited authority
− LEs rely on strategic planning while SMEs are tactically oriented
