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 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 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 Association. Licensing by other standardization bodies is possible upon written acceptance. Tolpagorni Product AB www.productmanagement.se Organisationsnummer: 556727-1589 Member of International Software Product Association, ISPMA www.ispma.org
PRODUCT MANAGEMENT DEVELOPMENT The goal of the ISPMA training for Certified Product 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 Tolpagorni Product AB www.productmanagement.se Organisationsnummer: 556727-1589 Medlem i International Software Product Association, ISPMA www.ispma.org
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). Tolpagorni Product AB www.productmanagement.se Organisationsnummer: 556727-1589 Medlem i International Software Product Association, ISPMA www.ispma.org
SOFTWARE PRODUCT MANAGEMENT FOUNDATION LEVEL CONTENT EU1 EU2 EU3 Introduction and Foundations - Software as a Business - Relevant terms, role, objectives - Software Product Overview (Framework) Product Planning 2.1 Product Requirements Engineering - Role of Requirements Engineering in Software Product - 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 - Phases of the Life Cycle - Performance 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 3.3 Ecosystem - Role and Elements - Stakeholders 3.4 Legal Aspects - Contracts - of Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) Tolpagorni Product AB www.productmanagement.se Organisationsnummer: 556727-1589 Medlem i International Software Product Association, ISPMA www.ispma.org
EU4 Strategic - Strategic Basics - Corporate Strategy and Portfolio - Innovation and Resource - Market and Product Analysis EU5 Orchestration of the Organization s Units 5.1 Development - Engineering - Project incl. Agile Methodologies - Project Requirements Engineering - Quality 5.2 - Planning - Customer Analysis and Opportunity - Mix Optimization - Product Launches and Operational 5.3 Sales and Distribution - Sales Planning and Channel Preparation - Customer Relationship - Operational Sales and Distribution 5.4 Service and Support - Service Planning and Preparation - Service Provisioning - Technical Support - 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 Tolpagorni Product AB www.productmanagement.se Organisationsnummer: 556727-1589 Medlem i International Software Product Association, ISPMA www.ispma.org
Strategic Product Strategy Product Planning Development Sales and Distribution Service and Support Corporate Strategy Positioning and Product Definition Product Life-Cycle Engineering Planning Sales Planning Service Planning and Preparation Portfolio management Delivery Model and Service Strategy Roadmapping Project Customer Analysis Channel Preparation Service Provisioning Innovation Sourcing Release Planning Project Requirements Engineering Opportunity Customer Relationship Technical Support Resource Business Case and Costing Product Requirements Engineering Quality mix Optimization Operational Sales Support Market Analysis Pricing Product Launches Operational Distribution Sales Support Product Analysis Ecosystem Operational Legal and IPR Performance and Risk Participation Core SPM Orchestration FACTS The training is split into two 2-day sessions. Fig. 1 ISPMA SPM Framework V. 1.1 Further information: kristin.svensson @productmanagement.se +46-725-798-985 erik.bjernulf@productmanagement.se +46-706-256-353 Tolpagorni Product AB www.productmanagement.se Organisationsnummer: 556727-1589 Medlem i International Software Product Association, ISPMA www.ispma.org