Product Management is critical for the success of a startup. This book is a study guide and handbook for practitioners in startups, i.e. newly formed companies, and also corporate ventures, i.e. new product development units that work in a startup mode in established companies. It is based on the “SPM for Startups” module of ISPMA® (International Software Product Management Association).

The authors: Hans-Bernd Kittlaus is the Chairman of ISPMA and founder and owner of InnoTivum Consulting, Germany. Haragopal Mangipudi (aka Hara) is a member of the Board of ISPMA and founder and owner of guNaka^® LLC (https://gunaka.org) established in the USA and India.

InnoTivum’s training curriculum covers all needs of software product managers and their organizations whether they are responsible for software products or software components embedded in physical products and services. The ISPMA-based modules prepare for the corresponding ISPMA certification exams.

We have recently added one module for customer IT organisations: how can they ensure that they select and implement standard software products that fulfill their requirements and interests in the best possible way?

McKinsey has proven that the quality of product management is one of the four factors that have the highest impact on the business results of your company. In my blog post you can find links to McKinsey’s articles.

With our trainings you can improve your product management capabilities and therefore your numbers.

ISPMA has launched its new module SPM for Startups that is intended for people involved in software product management in startups as well as those building new software products in mature businesses in a startup mode. These can be founders, software product managers and other roles. It comes with ISPMA certification.

There are also new versions and releases of the SPM Framework and the modules
• “SPM – The Foundation”,
• “Excellence in Product Strategy” and
• “Excellence in Product Planning”.

In total, these are the biggest, but still evolutionary changes in the history of ISPMA. Hans-Bernd Kittlaus was a member of the working groups which developed these new modules. We offer all these training courses on the latest release level.

ISPMA’s SPM Framework V.2

✓ Improve your PM skills with our trainings and coaching, and thereby your career perspective
✓ For all industries with software-intensive products
✓ Optimize your product management in a company-specific way

What is product management?

Product management consists of product strategy, planning and product-related orchestration of the functional areas of the company. The objective is the product’s sustainable economic success across its life cycle, i.e. from the initial new product development focused on innovation and product-market fit through market introduction and evolutionary continuous development, the growth and maturity phases to end-of-life. The product management role requires a high degree of management competence and orchestration across organizational structures, often without a hierarchical management position, i.e. leadership without authority. Software product management is not only utilized by software product vendors, but also by vendors of software-intensive products and services in other industries and in corporate IT organizations. There are different names for the role beside software product manager: solution manager, program manager, IT product manager, offering manager, or product owner.

Software is special

Since software is very special and different from physical components, product management must take these characteristics into account. The combination of high complexity and frequency of change as well as the need for value-based pricing have a significant impact on the work of software product management.

What makes a good product manager?

The requirements for a product manager are high. A combination of technical and domain knowledge is needed as well as business sense, i.e. the ability to understand and influence the economic as well as the technical and domain aspects of the product, its customers and its market. For the orchestration of the functional areas of the organization, being a team player, able to communicate and able to deal with conflict are big advantages. Leadership without authority is required.

In our consulting projects and trainings on software product management as well as in ISPMA (International Software Product Management Association) we frequently work with successful and experienced product managers who share their experiences, tips and tricks with us; also with researchers who involve us in their projects and discuss their results with us. So we are able to expand our own expertise. Our customers and training participants benefit from this. And it is reflected in our publications.

We can help with:

• Trainings and workshops based on ISPMA (International Software Product Management Association)
• SPM Audit
• Consulting Services

combining best industry practices with more than 25 years of hands-on experience. Our CEO Hans-Bernd Kittlaus is internationally recognized as thought leader on SPM with a high number of publications and invited presentations.

This book gives the most comprehensive overview on Software Product Management (SPM) for beginners as well as best practices, methodology and in-depth discussions for experienced product managers. This includes product strategy, product planning, participation in strategic management activities and orchestration of the functional units of the company. The book is based on the results of the International Software Product Management Association (ISPMA) which is led by a group of SPM experts from industry and research with the goal to foster software product management excellence across industries. This book can be used as textbook for ISPMA-based education and as guide for anybody interested in SPM as one of the most exciting and challenging disciplines in the business of software. This is Edition 2 and corresponds to version 2 of ISPMA’s Body of Knowledge, with lots of new and changed contents.

The author: Hans-Bernd Kittlaus is the Chairman of ISPMA and owner and managing director of InnoTivum Consulting, Germany.