ISPMA – CERTIFICATION PROGRAM FOR
SOFTWARE PRODUCT MANAGERS
Foundation Level
THE TRAINING…… is created for product managers for software intensive products within the business to business sphere … is created to provide attitudes, tools and knowledge for commercial and strategic product management … forms the knowledgebase for passing the Certification tests provided by the ISPMA.
…shall give the participants’ employer immediate value in work performed
… opens the doors to an international network of certified product management professionals
THE TRAINERS …
Bo Tiderman – a product strategist with a background in small startups and global organizations. In roles such as Director of marketing and CEO Bo has been managing several successful product launches.
Erik Bjernulf - has a broad experience of product management, business development and R&D. In areas including software, electronics and hardware Erik has been driving products to commercial success.
Magnus Billgren – a true entrepreneur and serial company starter. Active in development of the ISPMA initiative and founder of Tolpagorni and the annual Product Management Days. Magnus has been responsible for several open and customer internal product management training programs.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This syllabus has been written by the following members of the International Software Product Management Association (ISPMA): Magnus Billgren, Sjaak Brinkkemper, Christof Ebert, Samuel Fricker, Tony Gorschek, Rainer Grau, Gerald Heller, Marc Hilber, Barbara Hoisl, Mahvish Khurum, Hans-Bernd Kittlaus, Kevin Vlaanderen and Inge van de Weerd. Editor: Hans-Bernd Kittlaus
We thank everybody for their honorary contributions.
Copyright © 2012 with the authors mentioned above. The rights have been transferred to the ISPMA International Software Product Management Association. Licensing by other standardization bodies is possible upon written acceptance.
PRODUCT MANAGEMENT DEVELOPMENT
The goal of the ISPMA training for Certified Product Management is to promote general understanding of the
discipline of product management for software products including the management of software parts of software-intensive products, i.e. systems or services.
The training “SPM Foundation Level” covers the full spectrum of elements of software product management that are well-supported by literature and industrial practice. The education is given as a three day course and self-study together with a workshop.
The emphasis of the training is given to Product Strategy and Product Planning for software intensive products. The product strategy training shall give the participants tools and knowledge to develop realizable strategies. The product planning section shall give the participants tools for Requirement management, Road-mapping & Release planning. All presented from a product management perspective aiming to optimize profitability. The program addresses the needs of people involved in software product management, including those that the product manager interfaces with, e.g. general management, marketing and sales, research and development, production, service and support, and controlling.
The program is the basis for examination to certify that the course participant has achieved the degree of knowledge described in this training.
PURPOSE AND STRUCTURE
The course is the basis for consistent training, learning, and examination of software product management. It provides:
This course consists of 5 chapters. Each chapter covers one major educational unit (EU). Each chapter also includes the duration suggested to teach it. Each educational unit has educational objectives. An educational objective has a defined cognitive level of knowledge that the course participant is expected to achieve.
The educational objectives are expressed in terms of two cognitive levels of knowledge phrased using the verbs “knowing” for level 1 and “understanding” for level 2. These two verbs are placeholders for the following:
L1 (know): enumerate, characterize, recognize, and name
L2 (understand): reflect, analyze, execute, justify, describe, judge, display, design, develop, complete, explain, elucidate, elicit, formulate, identify, interpret, reason, translate, distinguish, compare, understand, suggest, and summarize
INCLUDED AND EXCLUDED KEY AREAS
The training covers knowledge applicable for any kind of systems and organizational contexts.
The training is independent of any specific process model, and thus defines knowledge of a software product manager without prescribing exact interfaces to other roles in a product organization.
EXAMINATION
The training is the basis for the examination for the ISPMA foundation-level certificate “Certified Software Product Manager”. All chapters are relevant for the exam. The exam takes the following form:
COURSE PARTICIPANT PREREQUISITES
The training and learning assumes general knowledge of, and some experience in, the management or development of software products or software in software-intensive systems.
The formal background of the course participant is not crucial (whether it be engineering or management), rather the level of experience is predominantly the factor associated with the prerequisites. A course participant should have at least 3 years of experience in the software industry in general.
TRAINING SETUP
The training consists of:
Seminars
Seminars given by Tolpagorni and guest lecturers
Exercises – Cases
Exercises on cases to apply knowledge and generate pragmatic attitude of the knowledge
Self-study
Books, reports and articles
Case
The participants will also apply the knowledge in their working environment and
present/discuss the work individually with the training provider (Tolpagorni).
SOFTWARE PRODUCT MANAGEMENT
– FOUNDATION LEVEL – CONTENT
EU1
Introduction and Foundations
- Software as a Business
- Relevant terms, role, objectives
- Software Product Management Overview (Framework)
EU2
Product Planning
2.1 Product Requirements Engineering
- Role of Requirements Engineering in Software Product Management
- Inquiry cycle with elicitation, analysis, and validation 2.2 Release Planning
- Release Planning Process and its conflicts - Structure of Release Plan
2.3 Road-mapping
- Product Roadmap and its elements - Sources of input
- Usage of Roadmaps
2.4 Product Life Cycle Management - Phases of the Life Cycle
- Performance Management
EU3
Product Strategy
3.1 Basics
- Role and Elements of Product Strategy and Their Interdependencies
- Product Name
- Positioning and Product Definition
- Delivery Model, Service Strategy and Sourcing 3.2 Business Aspects
- Business Case - Costing - Pricing
- Performance and Risk Management 3.3 Ecosystem Management
EU4
Strategic Management
- Strategic Management Basics- Corporate Strategy and Portfolio Management - Innovation and Resource Management
- Market and Product Analysis
EU5
Orchestration of the Organization’s Units
5.1 Development
- Engineering Management
- Project Management incl. Agile Methodologies - Project Requirements Engineering
- Quality Management 5.2 Marketing - Marketing Planning
- Customer Analysis and Opportunity Management - Marketing Mix Optimization
- Product Launches and Operational Marketing 5.3 Sales and Distribution
- Sales Planning and Channel Preparation - Customer Relationship Management - Operational Sales and Distribution
5.4 Service and Support
- Service Planning and Preparation - Service Provisioning
- Technical Support
- Marketing and Sales Support 5.5 Other Units
Other SPM Units Finance, Controlling, HR
5.6 The Role of SPM as Orchestrator - Roles and Responsibilities of SPM - Coordination Challenges and Strategies
Fig. 1 ISPMA SPM Framework V. 1.1
FACTS
The training is split into two 2-day sessions.
Further information: kristin.svensson @productmanagement.se +46-725-798-985
[email protected] +46-706-256-353
Strategic
Management Product Strategy
Product
Planning Development Marketing
Sales and Distribution Service and Support Corporate Strategy Positioning and Product Definition Product Life-Cycle Management Engineering Management Marketing
Planning Sales Planning
Service Planning and Preparation Portfolio management Delivery Model and Service Strategy Roadmapping Project Management Customer Analysis Channel Preparation Service Provisioning Innovation
Management Sourcing Release Planning
Project Requirements Engineering Opportunity Management Customer Relationship Management Technical Support Resource Management Business Case and Costing Product Requirements Engineering Quality Management Marketing mix
Optimization Operational Sales
Marketing Support
Market Analysis Pricing Product Launches Operational
Distribution Sales Support
Product Analysis Ecosystem Management
Operational Marketing
Legal and IPR Management
Performance and Risk Management
