We talk often about Product Managers and believe that their role is very similar to that of a Business Analyst. Like all job titles, Product Manager is used differently by different organizations. Generally they are responsible for eliciting requirements from customers (who may be internal or external), analyzing and documenting the requirements. They also assist with prioritizing requirements and work with the technical solution team to get the requirements implemented properly. Often Product Managers are located within the Marketing and Sales functional areas in a company.
In terms of skills needed to be a Product Manager, they are many of the same skills that we look for in a BA. I would list the ability to see the big picture and also be able to be very detail oriented. They must be good listeners, help customers articulate their needs, and ensure the product is built right and meets customer needs. In many organizations they also manage requirements changes, and are responsible for prioritizing requirements by their importance to many customers. Product Managers often have to make choices about which customers will get their requests first. This is a delicate balancing act!
October 11th, 2006 at 7:41 am
As you have pointed out correctly, a Product Manager is invariably in the Sales and Marketing , or in the product Management Group of a Product company. The job of the Product Manager is to define the roadmap for the product and prioritize the development of various features. But the Business Analyst is the person who works mostly with the implementation team and gathers the client specific requirements that needs to be customized into the product.
October 12th, 2006 at 9:37 am
Braja wrote:
“…But the Business Analyst…”
I take that to mean that the Product Manager is normally a different person from the Business Analyst. To some extent, I agree, but, like so many of the topics we discuss about Business Analysis, I feel that this one falls under the heading of “It depends…” It depends upon the company; it depends upon the industry; it depends upon the maturity of the internal organization. For those companies that have the luxury of having specialized Marketing and Business Analyst personnel, Braja notes the accurate business paradigm.
At one point in my career, I held the title of Product Manager. Working for a COTS (commercial, off-the-shelf) software company, I was the one who worked with “…Sales and Marketing, or in the product Management Group of a Product company”, and I also “…work[ed] mostly with the implementation team and gather[ed] the client specific requirements…” However, rather than finding requirements that needed to be customized into the product, I had to *generalize* customer requirements into the off-the-shelf product.
Had I been a qualified BA at the time, I would have been able to do my Product Manager job in a much more effective manner. Like Barbara noted, doing the marketing work *and* working with customers to determine their long-term requirements was a balancing act.
My experience may be unique; however I think that, as we examine more and more companies and their Product Management/Development teams, we’ll find that many Product Managers require Business Analysis skills. On the other hand, as Braja alluded, this topic will always fall into the realm of “It depends…”
March 20th, 2007 at 2:47 am
I had an email discussion with Scott Selhorst from Tynerblain about this very topic last week.
He consults on Product Management and Business Analyst skills and techniques and posts an excellent blog.
Our discussion ended with the agrement that the main difference is that a BA is working on a one (or few) customer product where a PM is working on a product which will be marketed to many customers.
How does that sound as a differentiation?
Visit the Tyner Blain blog here: http://tynerblain.com/blog/
Cheers
Craig
http://betterprojects.blogspot.com/
April 2nd, 2007 at 9:45 am
Craig wrote:
"…a BA is working on a one (or few) customer product where a PM is working on a product which will be marketed to many customers."
Bingo!* That's why I use the term "generalize" in my comment above . A Product Manager has to be able to take specific input from a number of customers and then create a detailed requirements set that will satisfy everybody. Tough gig.
*<UNRELATED COMMENT>
(For those unfamiliar with U.S. culture, Bingo is a board game played by placing small "markers" on a 5×5 grid arranged in a letter/number combination after a "caller" calls out combinations based upon a random selection. All of the grid locations begin with one of the letters of the word "BINGO". Example:
There are sometimes hundreds of grid "cards" in "play" at one time, sometimes with people playing multiple cards at the same time. The game ends when a player realizes that they have placed markers on the numbered grid in a straight 5-marker line either horizontally, vertically or diagonally. When they realize it, they must yell out the word "BINGO" in a most vociferous fashion in order to claim to have won the game.
Wouldn't this make a great exercise in communication? Try explaining one of your local games to a non-local. I would personally love to be able to understand the game called "cricket".)
</UNRELATED COMMENT>