Product and program management : battling the strangler trees of system and social complexity in the software market jungle

Abstract

An exploration of Software Product and Program Management as recently emergent roles in the information technology sector is presented. The exploration is presented in six sections divided into two major parts. The first part, in four sections, explores Product Management from a primarily anthropological and managerial perspective, while the second part, in two sections, explores major engineering issues related to the role. The first part gives a synopsis of the history and economics of software products, demonstrating the rapid evolution of a field facing unprecedented problems with product complexity and motivating the need for Product Management. The role of Product Manager is explored in detail using both extant literature and interviews conducted with current practitioners in industry. The related role of Program Manager is briefly discussed. Finally, an extended historical case study is presented demonstrating the struggles and pitfalls of Product Management in software product companies. The second part explores two major engineering issues related to the Product Management role: Project Management and Requirements Engineering.

(cont.) A survey of major Software Project Management methods in use is given along with critiques of their effectiveness. Finally, the emerging field of Requirements Engineering is studied, with the conclusion that purely analytical methods such as semi-formal modeling cannot obviate the need for social process methods. Such methods take into account the tendency for human communication problems both to sabotage and to become embedded within software systems.