Course Content

  • Introduction and Foundations, and Software Product Management (SPM) Essentials: Introduction to the course, Software as a Business, SPM Role in organization structure and objectives (3 hours)

  • Software Product Management Framework: Overview, Product Management Definitions, Product Family, Product Line, Product Platform, Structure of the SPM Framework and Startup SPM Framework (1.5 hours)

  • Product Strategy, and Product Strategy Essentials: Role and Elements of Product Strategy and Their Interdependencies, Positioning and Product Definition, Delivery Model, Service Strategy and Sourcing (3 hours)

  • Business Models: Business Models and Business Case, Business Model Canvas, Business Archetypes (3 hours)

  • Customer Segments and Value Propositions : Product Market Fit, Whole Product, Market Development Model (3 hours)

  • Financial Management Software Products: Costing and Pricing (3 hours)

  • Performance and Risk Management AND Ecosystem Management: Performance and Risk Management, Role and Elements of Software Business Ecosystem (1.5 hours)

  • Legal Aspects : Awareness of relevant legal frameworks, data privacy norms, Management of Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) (1.5 hours)

  • Product Planning and Product Requirements Engineering: Role of Requirements Engineering in Software Product, Management, Inquiry cycle with elicitation, analysis, and validation (1.5 hours)
  • Product Release Planning and Product Roadmapping: Release Planning Process and its conflicts, Structure of Release Plan Product Roadmap and its elements, Sources of input, Usage of Roadmaps (1.5 hours)

  • Product Life Cycle Management: Phases of the Life Cycle, Performance Management (1.5 hours)

  • Impact From Development Methodologies: Agile, Iterative, and Waterfall Development Methodologies (1.5 hours)

  • Strategic Management: Strategic Management Essentials, Corporate Strategy and Portfolio Management, Innovation and Resource Management, Market and Product Analysis (3 hours)

  • Orchestration of the Organization’s Functional Areas Development and Marketing: Engineering Management, Project Management incl. Agile Methodologies, Project Requirements Engineering, User Experience Design, Quality Management, Marketing Planning, Customer Analysis and Opportunity Management, Marketing Mix Optimization, Product Launches and Operational Marketing (3 hours)

  • Orchestration of the Organization’s Functional Areas Sales and Distribution; and Service and Support: Sales Planning and Channel Preparation, Customer Relationship Management, Operational Sales and Distribution, Service Planning and Preparation, Service Provisioning, Technical Support, Documentation, Marketing and Sales Support (1.5 hours)

  • Orchestration of the Organization’s Functional Areas The Role of SPM as Orchestrator: Roles and Responsibilities of SPM, Coordination Challenges and Strategies, Persuasion and Influencing techniques (3 hours)

  • Industry interactions: Speakers / Panel Experience sharing and Q&A with Industry Practitioners (4 hours)

Course Objectives

  1. Understand the nuances of software products business
  2. Understand the pivotal role of Software Product Manager
  3. Understand the orchestration between product management and other business functions
  4. Understand the global best practices in Software Product Management

Learning Outcomes

This course enables a student to play any of the following roles in Corporations in the business of software products, software services, software intensive businesses: Software Product Manager, Management roles that interface with software products - e.g. general management, marketing and sales, research and development, architecture, engineering/development, service and support, and controlling.

Text Books

  1. “Software Product Management” by HB Kittlaus and SA Fricker, ISBN: 978-3-642-55140-6 URL: https://www.springer.com/gp/book/9783642551390

References

Peer reviewed articles on software product management that are published in leading journals and conferences

Additional Information

Pedagogy

  • Lecture with a “practitioner’s perspective”
  • Experiential Learning with intern projects
  • Global Knowledge through Expert interactions

Course Evaluation & Grading Pattern

  • Individual Assignments and Exercises - 20%
    • These are individual assignments / presentations / class exercises on various aspects of software product management.
  • Final Exam - 50%
    • This is a 90 minute written examination with objective type questions which carry negative marking.
  • Project - 30%
  • Group intern projects with software product companies.

Group Project - details

  • As part fulfillment of the course work, students (in groups of not more than four) will study a software product/company (shadow the Product Head / a very senior Product Management leader) of their choice and apply the learnings from the SPM course for the benefit of that company.
  • Project team interacts with the Product Leadership of the company, preferably once a week to relate the key learnings from the class discussion to the Product(s) in the organization and derive inferences.
  • Students shall submit a Report / slide presentation of findings & recommendations to the company – Product Leadership of the company can be invited for the final presentation in the class.
  • Company gives feedback but do not give any ratings
  • Evaluation Criteria and Weightage:
    • 1/3rd for Comprehension of Concepts and their application
    • 1/3rd for Completeness /Coverage of frameworks /methods learnt in the course
    • 1/3rd for Quality of Recommendations and articulation of best practices in product management.

Past Offerings

Course Metadata

Item Details
Course Title Software Product Management
Course Code CS5625
Course Credits 3-0-0-3
Course Category GCE
Proposing Faculty Haragopal Mangipudi
Approved on Senate 18 of IIT Palakkad
Course prerequisites NIL
Course status New