Building Products for the Enterprise: Product Management in Enterprise Software

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If you’re new to software product management or just want to learn more about it, there’s plenty of advice available―but most of it is geared toward consumer products. Creating high-quality software for the enterprise involves a much different set of challenges. In this practical book, two expert product managers provide straightforward guidance for people looking to join the thriving enterprise market.

Authors Blair Reeves and Benjamin Gaines explain critical differences between enterprise and consumer products, and deliver strategies for overcoming challenges when building for the enterprise. You’ll learn how to cultivate knowledge of your organization, the products you build, and the industry you serve.

Explore why:

Identifying customer vs user problems is an enterprise project manager’s main challenge Effective collaboration requires in-depth knowledge of the organization Analyzing data is key to understanding why users buy and retain your product Having experience in the industry you’re building products for is valuable Product longevity depends on knowing where the industry is headed

From the Publisher

Building Products for the Enterprise: Product Management in Enterprise Software

Forward by Todd Olson, CEO and Cofounder, Pendo.io

Product management is hot. Why? A lot of reasons, not the least of which is the growing primacy of product, where many of our sources of modern competitive advantage are found in products that utterly delight customers. But I also credit Google and the wildly successful product management organization it has built. Perhaps without equal, Google has hired and trained wicked smart people who built some of the most recognizable and delightful products we all know and use. Many are now CEOs or venture capitalists—the power brokers in our current technology ecosystem. Much of the content around product management is driven by this hallowed community. I’m fortunate to work closely with two individuals with this pedigree and have encountered many more, and I’m qualified to say they are the real deal.

Yet, their background is different than mine. Google is a consumer-first company—at least in its early days. Some Google product managers have interacted with sales, but many have not. Much of the idealism that I read about is inspiring to me, yet it doesn’t reflect the reality that I’ve faced trying to be successful in my past. Not all of us live in a world where we can A/B test something in Google search and get millions of datapoints in an hour.

The reality is that enterprise or B2B product management is its own beast. And it’s an important one. Enterprise product management is driving our economy. We are designing the future of our human resources departments, our supply chain, advertising technology, data centers, and generally all major infrastructure.

As I read this book, I smiled. I smiled because the stories and ideas resonated so closely with my experience. This is a book written for me. Who am I? I’ve had the pleasure of being in enterprise product management since I began my career over 20 years ago. I’ve led product teams, and now I’m the CEO for a company whose customers (and users) are primarily product teams. These are my people. If you’re reading this, they’re likely yours, too.

But there’s no degree in enterprise product management—at least no degree that I’ve found. I’m very familiar with programs like Pragmatic Marketing and others that have some good training. But, until now, I hadn’t found content that perfectly captured the job of enterprise product management.

If you are an enterprise product manager, enjoy this. This may well become our ‘bible.’ If you aren’t an enterprise product manager, welcome. I’m biased, but I feel there is no better role. For me, it has been incredibly rewarding, an amazing stepping stone for any and all ambitions, professionally and otherwise. Other product people understand what I mean.

Enjoy.

Todd Olson, CEO and Cofounder, Pendo.io

Publisher ‏ : ‎ O’Reilly Media; 1st edition (April 17, 2018)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 184 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1492024783
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1492024781
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 9.6 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6 x 0.4 x 8.9 inches