Introduction

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Products and Services are the lifeblood of the company and as such, must be given appropriate management attention if desired outcomes are to be achieved. Each product / service within the overall portfolio will follow its own ‘lifecycle’, a result of strategic intent and actioned tactical plans. The level of commercial success achieved by each product/service within the portfolio, typically relates to how well market requirements have been satisfied and directly to the ‘standard’ of ‘product management’ they have received.

The need for Portfolio Management

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Taken in context 'Product Management' is in itself a very complex discipline with many interdependencies (TouchPoints) to be taken into account and as such, must not be thought of as the sole responsibility of the 'Product Manager‘. Fundamentally Product Management is a management activity with the complexity of process interdependencies rising exponentially with the size of the portfolio and structure of your target markets. ...at a given point we have found that the most efficient and effective way to cascade 'strategic intent', is by adopting a strong multidisciplinary approach, driven by a triad of strategic management disciplines – CEO/MD, Product Manager/Product Owner and Market Development Manager, although the general ethos has to be acknowledged within any size portfolio.

It is without question that the above approach offers significant and measureable improvements across a wide range of critical success factors. However, it remains important to align any structural / hieratical positions indicated to the specific requirements of your company. In alignment with the above rationale, the PMM process is eminently suitable for managing a portfolio, of whatever size, and fully subscribes to a ‘Best Practice’ and 'lean' planning approach throughout.

Shown below are fundamental portfolio structures, all of which can be supported in various ways by the PMM process.