(Originally posted on the Triangle PMA group in Raleigh-Durham)

This is the first of 3 opportunities I am posting  for Fred Pierce from a publicly traded company moving from being more hardware centric to being more software centric and they are certainly offering comp plans to attract top talent. If you are interested contact him at:  fredpierce@hdhntr.com      (512) 863-9020

Senior Manager/Director of Product Marketing

Change and Configuration to include Professional Services

The Company:

Client Company is a leading global provider of IT infrastructure management solutions for enterprise data centers, small/medium businesses and branch offices.

Capitalizing on more than two decades of experience, product innovations and strategic acquisitions, The Client Company is positioned as an international leader in advancing digital, embedded, wireless and mobile technologies.

The Client Company actively participates in the development of many industry standards and specifications that are integrated into company products including silicon, firmware, remote access cards and blade server management modules.

The Client Company has more than three dozen embedded design wins with industry leaders and maintains an OEM relationship with leading technology providers including HP, Dell, IBM, Intel and FSC. Thousands of client sites, including those of Fortune 100 companies, rely every day on Client Company's technology. Customers include Microsoft Corp., Intel, HP, Dell, Time Warner, GE, Exxon Mobile, FedEx and Home Depot, among others.

The Client Company is located in the south east United States has approximately 2,000 employees with sales, operations and R&D centers worldwide.

Reporting Structure:

Reports to the Senior Director of Product Marketing and coordinated with the CTO and the office of strategy.

Job Description:

The Senior Manager/Director of Product Marketing will be accountable for developing and executing the strategy to increase market share for the focus area of Change and Configuration Management.  Additionally the person will be able to provide portfolio assistance with professional services.  The number one priority is creating the Avocent solution portfolio around Change and Configuration Management to include professional services for all of the four focus areas.  Activities also include  market sizing and opportunity assessment, proposing future solution development, providing market requirements for MRDs, crafting key solution messages, conducting competitive analyses, and determining pricing with the Company's pricing committee, packaging requirements, and program offerings. 

Specific deliverables include but are not limited to:

• Identification of the Company's solution portfolio to address Change and Configuration Management and all Professional Services
• P0 – P1 exercise
• Development of buyer requirements and buyer personas to feed the MRDs
• Competitive analysis to include sales "battle cards"
• Market definitions and size
• Operational metrics for revenue and margins
• Win/loss analysis
• Solution-specific business case
• Portfolio analysis
• Identification of unsolved customer problems
• Leading solution launches
• Sales and channel training plan
• White papers, presentations and customer visits and demos
• Customer "special call" support
• Coordination with Product Management

Company's Change and Configuration Management Definition:

This solution suite helps manage any changes, additions, or reductions of the IT infrastructure environment.

Candidate Location:

The candidate can by located anywhere in the US with easy access to the airport.  The candidate must be willing to travel at least 50% of the time to visit with customers, to headquarters in the southeast United States and to our Salt Lake City location.

Compensation: 

Base approximately $160,000 annually plus bonus.

Experience, skills & Education:

1. Both a marketing and an engineering degree
2. Minimum 10 years experience in a  product marketing function within IT with a focus on Enterprise, datacenter customers
3. Significant change and configuration software experience
4. Minimum 10 years experience managing a product marketing solutions portfolio
5. Strong written, verbal and presentation skills
6. Demonstrated team-building skills to create a shared vision and accomplish team goals
7. 50% travel

Steven Haines, the President of Sequent Learning Networks,is launching a new book.

It's called "The Product Manager's Desk Reference."    This is the ultimate go-to resource creating a standard body of knowledge for product managers and the executives who lead product management organizations.  Download the Introductory chapter and the table of contents now!  

 Visit:      www.pmdeskreference.com

Date: Friday, July 25, 2008

Time: 08:30 AM - 09:30 AM PST

AIPMM introduces a new 45-minute open Q&A session format with veteran
webinar presenters and AIPMM "Excellence in Product Management
Education" award winners Linda Merrick and Mara Krieps of Pivotal
Product Management. In this live Q&A forum webinar you can pose your
tough Product Management or Product Marketing challenges to Linda and
Mara, and get some fast, effective coaching in real time!

You will benefit from:

• Hearing what challenges your colleagues around the world are
experiencing
• Gaining real-time insight on solutions to these challenges
from the founders of award winning trainers and consultants from
Pivotal Product management
• Getting a solution to your own big challenge

Join us for a 45-minute investment that could provide your
biggest "Aha" moment of the year!

Have a burning product management question now? Send your question to
info(at)pivotalpm.com now, then join the webinar on July 25 to hear
the answer!

To register please visit:
https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/254681529

About the Presenters:
Linda Merrick and Mara Krieps are the founders of internationally
recognized training and consulting firm Pivotal Product Management
(www.pivotalpm.com). Both Linda and Mara are AIPMM certified,
practicing product managers, with more than 40 years' combined
experience, and both are recipients of AIPMM's "Excellence in Product
Management Education award".

The chapter's keynote event, the Forum is rapidly becoming known as the premier local event for product development and management professionals.  If you attended last year's event, you know what I'm talking about.  If you haven't, check out the photos and PowerPoint slides on our chapter website: www.pdmatampaby.org

Quick history.  Our first Forum in 2006 was held at the USF College of Business Administration.  It was a half-day event with four speakers and about 25 attendees.  Last year, the second Forum was a full day event held at the UT Sykes College of Business.  Five speakers presented on the Product Life Cycle to 67 attendees and a view of the Tampa skyline.

This year, the Forum will be held on Friday, September 12, at the St. Pete College EpiCenter Collaborative Labs just off Ulmerton Road (http://www.spcollege.edu/EpiCenter). 

The theme is: Innovation.  We're working on an interactive program were groups will rotate through presentations from experts in various innovation methods. 

Speakers are still being recruited but we currently have commitments from:

Jack Hipple. Principal of Innovation-TRIZ, and a recognized expert in the TRIZ methodology.

Jonathan Reichental, IT Innovation Director at PricewaterhouseCoopers

If you are or know of someone who is certified or trained in any number of innovation methods (Brainstorming, Heuristic Redefinition Process, DeBono's Six Hats, 5W1H, etc.) and would be willing to present for the day, please contact:

Mike Presta

michael.presta@...

813-973-3690

Also, contact Mike if your company is interested in becoming a Forum sponsor. 

Forum details, including the agenda and fees, will be coming soon so save that date: Friday, September 12 – and we'll see you at the EpiCenter.

Tampa Bay PDMA Chapter Meeting:          Tuesday, July 22

It's back!  Due to popular demand, the Tampa Bay PDMA chapter will hold our second (possibly annual) "Speed Networking" meeting!  In the current economy, networking is more vital than ever to keep your job or find that dream opportunity.

Dust off those cobwebs and bring lots of business cards to the Quorum Hotel at 6:00PM on Tuesday, July 22.  Those of you who attended Debbie Lundberg's presentation last year can practice her advice of making YOU the product.  If you're new to the chapter it's the best way to meet a LOT of people FAST.  

PLUS – THERE WILL BE AN IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT ABOUT THIS YEAR'S FORUM!   SEE DETAILS ON THE NEXT PAGE!

Program -

PDMA updates and chapter business: Kirsten will provide updates from PDMA national and Mike will continue his begging for committee volunteers (always good for a laugh – he's so pathetic!). 

We're paying for the room so we'll have to charge for this one but it's worth it.  Cheaper than dinner and a movie yet TWICE the fun!    

Admission:     PDMA Members - $20

                        Non Members - $30

                        Students - $20

Agenda -

6:00 - 6:30: Registration and Networking

6:30 - 6:45: Opening Remarks and Begging

6:45 - 7:45: The Bell Rings And The Madness Begins!

7:45 - 8:00: Wrap-up

Location -

Quorum Hotel

700 N. Westshore Blvd.

Tampa, FL  33609

Contact -

Mike Presta: michael.presta@...  (813-973-3690)

If you know someone who fits the bill...

This position is not web-tech intensive, but does require basic html skills, javascript a plus. We create and support 1600+ websites, and need someone who can make edits to html, use a content management tool for workflow and simple changes, and help explain options and web possibilities to non-savvy site owners. Great company on the resume, and strong surrounding cast. Position is listed as P/T, but considering several options for the hire. Great position for entry-level webbie and cutting your chops with web site management and related issues. Position needs to be filled asap. Hours flexible for college students.

Visit:  http://www.raymondjames.com/careers/   and search key phrase "web administrator".

Heidi,

Welcome! There's currently an opening for a technology product manager at Raymond James:
https://raymondjames.taleo.net/careersection/rj_extcareersection/moresearch.ftl?lang=en&keyword=product&radiusOptions=20&unit=2&jobfield1=2301430233&asdf=Search+Jobs#

I'll also forward your profile to the managers there. There are non-technical product managers at RJ as well, just keep your eye on our career site.

You may also want to connect with the Tampa Product and Development Managers Association, who hold networking meetings once in awhile.

Here's their site: http://www.pdmatampabay.org/index.htm

There are well attended networking events for the tech crowd through:
http://hotspaces.net/

Don Rua

--- In tampabaypma@yahoogroups.com, "Heidi Wilson" <hwilso1@...> wrote:
>
> Hi there,
>
> I'm looking at relocating to the Tampa/St. Pete area this fall and am
> wondering if anyone here can point in the the right direction for good
> career opportunities. I have over 10 years experience in product
> management/strategic marketing in technology, healthcare and financial
> services. I'm currently building a social network for physicians in
> Canada, so I also have social media expertise to offer.
>
> My profile on linked in is http://www.linkedin.com/in/heidiwilson
>
> thanks in advance for your help!
>
> Heidi
>

******************************************
PM 2.0
The Product Marketing & Product Management Newsletter
May 2008


This issue includes an article by the 280 Group's
Alyssa Dver on "Why software still stinks" and
articles on "Why Chaos Does Not a Successful Product
Make" and  "Writing Effective Benefits Statements
- How to Turn Features into Compelling Benefits
that Matter to Customers".

Also, don't miss our upcoming PM Fast Track training
in San Jose and Boston as well as our Webinar on
"How to Accelerate Your Product Management Career".


To read this issue go to:
www.280group.com/insider/5.20.08.htm

- ARTICLES:

   * Why So Much Software Still Stinks
     by Alyssa Dver

   * Chaos Does Not a Successful Product Maket
     by Brian Lawley

   * Writing Effective Benefits Statements for
     your Features
     by Brian Lawley


- WEBINARS:

   * How to Accelerate your Product Management Career
     Friday, May 30th

- TRAINNING:

   * PM Fast track now available on East & West Coasts
     Become a PM expert in just four days!

- NEW RESOURCE:
   * Expert Product Management Bundle now available


To read this issue go to:
www.280group.com/insider/5.20.08.htm

Hi there,

I'm looking at relocating to the Tampa/St. Pete area this fall and am
wondering if anyone here can point in the the right direction for good
career opportunities.  I have over 10 years experience in product
management/strategic marketing in technology, healthcare and financial
services.  I'm currently building a social network for physicians in
Canada, so I also have social media expertise to offer.

My profile on linked in is http://www.linkedin.com/in/heidiwilson

thanks in advance for your help!

Heidi

Hi all, I'm Richard and I'm new to this group. I'm from Sydney,
Australia and I have an idea to share with you all.

One of my affiliated companies runs Strategy Product Management
Training for Product & Marketing Managers. It is similar to Pragmatic
Marketing which some of you may know. The courses have been offered to
Australian companies and they have been extremely successful. They are
a 4 day course.

The IDEA:
I was discussing with Jenna the idea to organise a group of PMs who
wish to do this course and bundle it with a sight-seeing trip (mini
holiday to help you relax), and some networking meetings with
Australian colleagues in similar fields. The agenda would be 2 days
initial training, then 5 days sight-seeing, networking, corporate
events, and the 2 days final training. A total of 9 days + 1 day to
recover from jet lag coming for when you come downunder.

We can include the training course, the accommodation in a 5 star
hotel, the networking events, corporate visits, sight-seeing around
Sydney (Harbour Bridge, Opera House, Sydney Tower, Bondi Beach) ...
and a place to feed the kangaroos and koalas. Some free time as well.

Note: June is the start of Winter and it can be cold (temperatures
around 12 degrees celcius during the day ... 53 F)

We have not yet worked out all the inclusions and costs, but imagine
it would be well under $10,000 ... and all tax deductible.

Here is a brief overview of just the training course
http://www.brainmates.com.au/?page_id=66

If you are interested in participating please email me:
Richard Giuliano (richard.giuliano@...)
or SKYPE [richardgiuliano]

... and we can start to organise this fantastic training course downunder.

Thanks mate.

Richard

They're everywhere—those invisible but oh-so-destructive barriers that can loom between functions in a company.

Often called silos, these barriers can elicit numerous nasty behaviors—including function leaders' unwillingness to communicate, share information, or collaborate with each other, and their tendency to scuffle over scarce resources.

The Dark Side of Silos

Silos between a company's marketing function and other functions can be particularly damaging. For example, in many companies, management asks R&D to operate in a vacuum. R&D's goal is to come up with new offerings without considering their cost or market demand.

Management often rationalizes this approach by saying that it does not want to constrain creativity. But without input from the marketing staff, R&D risks creating products that fall flat in the marketplace because consumers don't care about the features and benefits they offer.

Marketing as a Silo Buster

As a marketing professional, you of course work in a specialized function that may feel like a silo in your firm. But you're also best positioned to break down the walls between your function and others (R&D, sales, finance, and so forth).

Why? Your job as a marketer is all about understanding and fulfilling customers' needs. More than any other managers in your company, you bring the customer's perspective inside your firm. Without that perspective, the entire enterprise would have no focus and no understanding of the customer—and would be doomed.

Also, leaders from other functions in your company are, in essence, your internal customers. By applying the same skills you apply to external customers to discern and satisfy these internal customers' needs, you dissolve the barriers between marketing and these functions. And you open a channel for exchanging the information and viewpoints needed to create offerings that the company's paying customers value.

Busting the silos between marketing and other functions isn't easy. But the following five tactics can help.

1. Focus your colleagues' attention on the customer

Help managers from other functions understand what customers want from your company. Then explain to them what happens when customers don't get what they want because different parts of your company aren't collaborating.

For example, try this:

"Customers want to tell us about their problem only once—not over and over again as we hand them off from one department to another because our order-processing and customer-service teams aren't talking to each other.

This latest research report shows that a customer who has to talk to more than one person to get his problem solved is ten times more likely to defect than a customer who gets his problem solved by talking to one person. So, every time we fail to solve a customer's problem on the first call, we risk losing them—and their wallet—to a competitor."

2. Use technology to sharpen customer focus

Use your company's customer relationship management (CRM) technology to sharpen your company's focus on the customer. For example, carefully analyze the data in your CRM system. Then use that data to show your colleagues:

• How customers are making purchase decisions
• What touch points they're interacting with as they do business with your company
• What problems they're running into at each touch point
• How much those problems are costing your company.

For instance, try this:

"Our system is showing that we're extremely inefficient with order entry. Delays and errors are increasing our operational expenses by 3% and driving 5% of our customers away every year. That translates into revenue losses of $200,000 to $400,000."

For additional insights about how marketers can collaborate with information managers to support their companies' success, see Paul Barsch's article "Preparing for the Future: How the CIO and CMO Must Collaborate to Win."

3. Regularly network with colleagues

Foster mutual understanding of one another's biggest challenges and priorities by regularly networking with colleagues. As often as possible, meet informally with your counterparts in R&D, sales, IT, manufacturing, and other functions. Find out what these peer managers' most pressing on-the-job difficulties are. Share similar information with them about your own department's challenges.

Steady networking is valuable for several reasons:

• It gives all participants a wider view of the company and generates insights into how you can help each other.
• It enables function leaders to gain familiarity with each other's skills and expertise. Once you're aware of what each of you brings to the company, you can draw on one another's abilities to solve cross-functional problems.
• It helps you identify and break down silos. For example, suppose you're having lunch with the head of your company's retail stores, and she mentions how online sales of the store's products are cannibalizing her profits. You could start breaking down this silo by helping to devise an acceptable way for each store to offer different products.
• It gives you the chance to win your colleagues' support for marketing strategies. Whenever you network with managers from other functions, take the opportunity to get their input on ideas you have percolating for new marketing initiatives. Get their thoughts about how a particular program might affect them and what cross-functional implementation challenges it might raise.

By inviting peers' input early, you boost your chances of winning their support for your idea. And you learn more about how activities initiated in the marketing department can affect other parts of the company.

4. Seek out cross-functional teams

Cross-functional teams contain at least three members from diverse functions—sales, marketing, finance, operations, IT, and so forth—all of them working together on a special project with a common goal and time deadline. For example, people from marketing and product development might form a team focused on creating a specific new offering that marketing has determined customers want.

Because a cross-functional team's work depends on input from several functions, collaboration is essential. When led properly, such teams leverage their members' diverse knowledge and expertise to accomplish vital objectives quickly and flexibly. But in many companies, marketing's participation in such teams is sketchy—possibly owing to underestimation of marketing's value on the part of managers in other functions.

How to combat these perceptions? Do whatever it takes to identify and seize cross-functional opportunities. And once you're on a cross-functional team, demonstrate productive team behavior.

For example, ease the conflict that can arise in a team whose members bring diverse expertise and viewpoints to the project. An operations manager, for instance, may want the most efficient production system possible, while you want the right mix of products available at the right time, even if that means short production runs.

You can help resolve this conflict by understanding that if your company's factory is inefficient, costs will rise and margins will suffer or prices will have to go up. You can also help the operations manager understand that if the product isn't available, customers will go elsewhere—which costs the company sales.

Look for opportunities to compromise or to come up with a "third way" to solve such impasses. And keep everyone focused on the higher-level goal: to make money by satisfying customers.

5. Encourage job shadowing

Spend time in other parts of your company; observe how your peers do their jobs—even perform some of their duties. Encourage your colleagues from other functions to do the same in your department.

By engaging in mutual job shadowing, you deepen your understanding of one another's view of the company and uncover additional ideas for collaborating on common problems. You also gain further opportunities to stress the importance of articulating and satisfying customers' needs.

Some companies make job shadowing a required practice. Take Intuit. This maker of the renowned Quicken accounting application required its programmers to spend time working at the help desk. The programmers heard users' concerns and were better positioned to program the software in ways that avoided creating problems for customers.

Silo Busting Pays Off—for You and Your Company

Silo-busting swiftly wins you a reputation as a Marketing Champion. Why? When you help break down silos between marketing and other functions in your company, managers stop hoarding their power and knowledge and start sharing it. This cross-boundary collaboration ratchets up the firm's power to better serve its customers, which translates directly into profits.

And that's a payoff that everyone can appreciate—no matter where in the company they work.

Catch Roy's session at the MarketingProfs B2B Forum, Driving Sales: What's New + What Works, where he'll speak on "How to Become a Marketing Champion Inside Your Organization." Register here!

The date of the Softletter SaaS seminar is May 14th, 2008, not
February 14th. My apologies for any confusion!

Reserve your Webinar seat now
at:https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/177707050

Rick Chapman

Softletter's SaaS University: Marketing, Selling, Infrastructure, and
Financing
(http://www.softletter.com/pages/market_and_selling_saas_agenda.shtml,
Boston, MA, June 18/19; San Mateo, CA Oct. 23/24.)

Managing Editor and Publisher of Softletter. Business insights for
software developers and publishers (www.softletter.com)

Topic: How SaaS is Setting 'Sale': Selected Highlights from
Softletter's 2008 SaaS Report

This seminar is being held in conjunction with Ryma (FeaturePlan),
www.featureplan.com.

Space is limited.

Reserve your Webinar seat now
at:https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/177707050

Merrill R. (Rick) Chapman, Managing Editor of Softletter
(www.softletter.com) will discuss key highlights and excerpts from
Softletter's recently released SaaS Report. The Softletter 2008 SaaS
Report, released in March 2008, contains the results and analysis of
Softletter's recent and comprehensive SaaS surveys. The presentation
will analyze why software companies are transitioning to SaaS, current
trends in sales compensation, international sales, the impact of SaaS
on sales of maintenance and professional services, SaaS and Open
Source, effective marketing programs, the use of Agile methodologies
by SaaS firms and much more.

Of particular interest to product managers is the part of the
presentation that focuses on the impact of SaaS on product management
processes and functions.

To see selected excerpts from the report and the complete table of
contents before the 14th, please click on the link below:

http://www.softletter.com/pages/SaaS_report.shtml

Rick Chapman

Softletter's SaaS University: Marketing, Selling, Infrastructure, and
Financing
(http://www.softletter.com/pages/market_and_selling_saas_agenda.shtml,
Boston, MA, June 18/19; San Francisco, CA Oct. 15/16.)

Managing Editor and Publisher of Softletter. Business insights for
software developers and publishers

******************************************
PM 2.0
The Product Marketing & Product Management Newsletter
April 22, 2008


This issue includes an article by the 280 Group's Greg
Cohen on how to outsource effectively plus a  guest
article by Peter Cohan, author of the book Great Demo.

We're also excited to announce a whole range of awards,
new products, webinars and our PM Fast Track public
training courses!

To read this issue go to:
www.280group.com/insider/4.22.08.htm

- ARTICLES:

   * Secrets of Outsourcing Successfully
     by Greg Cohen

   * Why don't they get it? When demos meet Crossing the
     Chasm. by Peter Cohan

- WEBINARS:

   * How to get phenomenal product reviews.
     Friday, April 25th

   * How to create a compelling product roadmap
     Wednesday, April 23rd

- ANNOUNCEMENTS:

   * PM Fast track now available on East & West Coasts
     Become a PM expert in just four days!

   * Expert Product Management Bundle now available!

   * 280 Group CEO Brian Lawley wins AIPMM "Excellence
     in Thought Leadership" award

   * 280 Group PM Office nominated for AIPMM "Excellence
     in PM Tools" award

- SMP CONFERENCE May 7-9, Santa Clara Convention Center.
   $495 if you register by April 30 ($500 off)

   * Greg Cohen of the 280 Group will be speaking on
     the topic of "Why you should open source your
     product"

   * Brian Lawley, 280 Group CEO will be holding a book
     signing for his book, Expert Product Management

Hope you are having a great Spring!

Brian Lawley & The 280 Group Team


To read this issue go to:
www.280group.com/insider/4.22.08.htm

The first Tampa Bay PDMA chapter meeting of 2008 will be held at the offices of AchieveGlobal on Wednesday, April 30 starting at 6:30PM.

Program -

PDMA updates and chapter business: Kirsten and Mike will provide updates from PDMA national and the chapter working committees

Speaker:   Jack Hipple, Principal of Innovation-TRIZ, will be presenting, "Innovation in Product Development".   Jack has presented at several PDMA events and we are very fortunate to have him in our chapter.    

Admission:     PDMA Members - No Charge

                        Non Members - $10

                        Students - $5

Agenda -

6:30 - 7:00: Networking

7:00 - 7:10: Host Welcome (AchieveGlobal)

7:10 - 7:20: Chapter Business

7:20 - 7:30: Break

7:30 - 8:15: Jack Hipple, "Innovation in Product Development"

8:15 - 8:30: Closing

Location -

AchieveGlobal

8875 Hidden River Parkway, Suite 400

Tampa, FL  33637

(Hidden River Corporate Park, I-75 and Fletcher Ave - Exit 266)

Contacts -

Doug Robinson: doug.robertson@... (727-123-4567)

Mike Presta: michael.presta@...  (813-123-4567)

Speaker Bio -

Jack Hipple is Principal of Innovation-TRIZ, an innovation training and consulting firm based in Tampa, FL.

After receiving his chemical engineering degree from Carnegie Mellon University, he spent 26 years with Dow Chemical including responsibility for Dow's Discovery Research as well as global chemical engineering R&D. He was named manager of foreign technology sourcing and management practices at the National Center for Manufacturing Sciences in 1993, and subsequent new product development projects at Ansell Edmont and Cabot Corporation. 

Prior to starting Innovation-TRIZ in 1999, he was a business development manager with Ideation International, a leading TRIZ consulting and software supplier, and Idea Connections, an organizational innovation consulting firm. In addition to his training and experience in TRIZ, he has received formal training and certification in innovation and assessment tools including DeBono Lateral Thinking™ and Six Hats™, Myers Briggs, and Kirton KAI™ assessment methodology.

His clients include GM, S.C. Johnson, Eastman Chemical, Air Products, Ariel Corp., Rohm and Haas, Siemens, Dow Chemical, MeadWestvaco, Caterpillar, Timken, GAF, the US Navy, and the Bank of Montreal. He teaches TRIZ for the American Institute of Chemical Engineers, the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, the World Future Society, the American Creativity Association, and the Altshuller TRIZ Institute.

******************************************
PM 2.0
The Product Marketing & Product Management Newsletter April 2008

Dear sarah,

This issue includes a guest article by Peter Cohan, author of the
book Great Demo, and also includes information on our upcoming
Product Launch seminars and the new Expert Product Managment Bundle.

To read this issue go to:
www.280group.com/insider/4.9.08.htm

- ARTICLE: Attention, Retention & Demos by Peter Cohan

- SEMINARS: How to Run A High Impact Product Launch

   * Scott's Seafood Restaurant, Palo Alto, CA
     Tuesday, April 15, 2008   7:30 AM  to 9:00 AM

   * Apple, 10500 N De Anza Blvd. Bldg 3, Rm #02 Theatre
     Cupertino, CA 95014
     Tuesday, April 15, 2008 5:30 PM to 8:30 PM

- ANNOUNCEMENT:
   Expert Product Management Toolkit Bundle Released!

Hope you are having a great Spring!

Brian Lawley & The 280 Group Team


To read this issue go to:
www.280group.com/insider/4.9.08.htm

See the message below from Mike Presta of the Tampa PDMA group:

The Tampa Bay PDMA chapter had a lot of positive momentum in 2007
following an outstanding Forum event held at the University if
Tampa.

However, in order to sustain that momentum, we need help.  Four
people have been working to keep the chapter running - Kirsten
Jepson, Doug Robinson, Darrin Guilbeau and me - while also trying to
maintain our personal and professional lives.

For the chapter to continue our early success, active participation
by the membership is critical.  I am scheduling two meetings over
the next two weeks at the Quorum Hotel in Tampa.  There are no
speakers, no presentations and no fees.  The meetings will be as
long or as short as needed but the only item on the agenda is to
secure active volunteers for some key committees we need NOW.

Date: Thursday, April 10
Time: 6:30PM
Committees: Meetings & Speakers, Membership, Website
Location: Quorum Hotel, 700 N. Westshore Blvd., 33609 (NW corner of
Westshore and I-275) in the lounge just off the lobby.  Drinks are
on you.

Date: Thursday, April 17
Time: 6:30PM
Committees: Events & Sponsors, Marketing, Treasurer (Board position)
Location: Quorum Hotel, 700 N. Westshore Blvd., 33609 (NW corner of
Westshore and I-275) in the lounge just off the lobby.  Drinks are
on you.

With just a few more people we can get a lot more accomplished.  If
you've signed up for a committee in the past, don't assume you'll
still be on that committee after these meetings.  Even committee
chairs need to re-register but will have first crack at being the
chair person.  If you can't make the meeting on the night for your
committee, let me know and I'll make sure you get on the correct
committee list.

With more people on each committee, the individual workload
decreases so if you've been wondering why we haven't had a chapter
meeting yet in 2008, now's the time to be part of the solution.

See you at the Quorum.

Mike

813-366-4611
michael.presta@...

The online edition of The Pivot Point newsletter from Pivotal Product Management is available now.  

In this issue you'll find new insights on the product manager's role as the driver of product strategy.  Here's an excerpt from the feature article:  

 " Straddling the intersection between two critical success factors—strategy and execution—the PM helps a company shape a product strategy that capitalizes on market opportunities and drivers, and then translates the vision into products by leading execution…"  

In The Pivot Point newsletter you will find tools and templates, including a white paper on the seven key product management practices.   Weigh in with your views on the best way to communicate product strategy, and find out what your colleagues said about Roadmapping practices last month. 

Also, here are a couple of ways to develop your product management skills this month:

Driving Product Success Workshop: April 8  Learn Chasm Institute's product life cycle strategies combined with Pivotal Product Management's immediately applicable practices & tools, available only on 4/8 in Seattle.

Complimentary webinar on April 11: Leading from the Middle  Pivotal Product Management's Linda Merrick and Mara Krieps, both AIPMM "Excellence in Product Management Education" award recipients, present this complimentary 45-minute event at noon EDT. Hosted by AIPMM.

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PM 2.0
The Product Marketing & Product Management Newsletter
March 2008

This issue includes an article and associated template
covering the Four Quadrant Prioritization Matrix: A
Simple Technique for Determining Where to Focus
Development Efforts for the Highest Payoff.

Also, don't miss our PM Fast Track training next
week and our Webinar this Friday on "How To Plan And
Execute A High-Impact Product Launch."

Last but definitely not least, join me at the Product
Management Education Conference in San Diego April 1-3.
I'll be giving the dinner keynote: How to Accelerate Your
PM Career.

Brian Lawley & The 280 Group Team

To read this issue go to:
http://www.280group.com/insider/3.24.08.htm


CONTENTS:

* ARTICLE:
The Four Quadrant Prioritization Matrix: A
Simple Technique for Determining Where to Focus
Development Efforts for the Highest Payoff.
http://www.280group.com/wpapers/4quadrant.pdf


* TRAINING: PM FAST TRACK TRAINING
Mar 31 to Apr 3rd, San Jose, CA
Become a PM expert in just four days!
http://www.280group.com/productmanagementtrainingschedule.htm

* WEBINAR: HOW TO PLAN & EXECUTE A HIGH-IMPACT
PRODUCT LAUNCH
Friday, Mar 28th 10am PST.
http://www.aipmm.com/html/events/webinar.php


* PMEC CONFERECE KEYNOTE: HOW TO ACCELERATE YOUR
PM CAREER
April 1-3, San Diego, CA
http://aipmm.com/html/pmec


To read this issue go to:
www.280group.com/insider/3.24.08.htm

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PM 2.0
The Product Marketing & Product Management Newsletter February 2008

To read this issue go to:
www.280group.com/insider/2.15.08.htm


CONTENTS:

* ARTICLE:
Where Should PM Report in the Organization?

* TRAINING: PM FAST TRACK TRAINING
Mar 31 to Apr 3rd, San Jose, CA
A four day comprehensive Product Management & Product Marketing
training seminar covering the entire product lifecycle that will make
you dramatically more effective and give you the skills, knowledge,
tools and templates to be more productive.

* WEBINAR: HOW TO ACCELERATE YOUR PM CAREER Wed Feb 20th, 9am PST.
Looking to move your career forward and get a promotion or a great
new job offer? In this webinar you'll learn tried and true methods,
tips and strategies for advancing your Product Management career.
From finding a mentor to working more efficiently to learning how to
manage your boss more effectively, this presentation will give you
the knowledge and insight to get on the fast track.

Details here:
http://community.featureplan.com/community/2008/02/webinar_february_20
_-product_management_career.php


* ANNOUNCEMENT: SOFTWARE INNOVATION AWARDS SoftwareCEO is holding the
2008 Software Innovation Awards. They are looking for software
companies that have shown true innovation with the products,
services, and business processes they've developed.

AGILE WEBINAR SERIES

Part 1

Agile vs. Traditional Product Management: Is it Really That Different?

March 14^th 12:30 – 1:30 ET

REGISTER - free

The transition from traditional product planning and development to Agile has thrown many product managers into a tailspin, perhaps unnecessarily.  Join ZIGZAG Marketing for a different perspective on the product planning and development process that compartmentalizes key differences between Agile and traditional processes and learn why the impact on product management doesn't need to be so drastic.

Part 2

Orchestrating the Agile Process

March 21^st 12:30 – 1:30 ET

REGISTER - free

Product Development is usually leading the Agile charge and product managers often feel they're being dragged along, kicking and screaming the entire way.  Join ZIGZAG Marketing to learn how Product Management can lead and orchestrate the Agile process and maintain control to ensure market and product objectives are being met.

[When playing chess with a friend, I always find it interesting to get up during the mid-game, walk around the table, and look at the game from my competitors point of view. A chess master probably understands all of the key threats based on much study, and the blindfold champs don't need this, but there's something enlightening for me when I physically view the situation from my opponents perspective. The article below discusses this concept in the context of product management. -DR]

Product Bytes from Enthiosys

Products with true technical advantage are rare – and fleeting. Most offerings are lightly differentiated, or not at all. When I hear product folks touting their unbeatable technical superiority, I stop to listen for the footsteps of competitors.

Pure Technical Advantage

A handful of products are so clearly advanced that their features define their early market position: 60 miles per gallon in the city. Non-invasive brain survey with radiation beams. Gigabit wireless data transfer. First manned commercial space vehicle. Velcro. Product managers fantasize about having products/services so clearly differentiated, and so far ahead of the market, that they seem to sell themselves.

Early adopters need some specific help understanding and buying your breakthrough product (or service). Typically, they look to you to:

• Explain the value of your technology clearly and persuasively, in terms of benefits and simple use cases
• Provide financial justification so technical users can sell their financial managers on spending money.

Of course, it's never that easy – and a complacent, narrow view of customer alternatives can make you a target. For instance… in the early `90's Sybase had the first database with "stored procedures." These event triggers let Wall Street create program trading: computers that could make real-time decisions about buying and selling stocks. Sybase grabbed a lucrative spot in the back offices of investment banks, but (within a few years) found itself out-positioned, out-sold and out-blustered by Oracle and other database players. Each vendor claimed similar capabilities, and had persuasive ways of shifting the discussion.

The Nature of the Threat

If you actually have a technical lead on your market, it pays to think through how emerging competitors will try to unseat you. The US Army calls this "red teaming." Let's consider a new company that's late to the market but has similar technical solutions to our enterprise-focused problem. Assume they have some smart product marketers (trained to sell today's less-than-perfect current offering) as well as product managers (wrestling to make next quarter's release better).

Your "red team" is likely to pick a few of these tactics:

• Find an unserved segment. Your whiz-bank database might lack proper audit controls for banks, or wide enough fields for DNA sequencing scientists. Late-arrivers can spot customer groups that you missed entirely.
• Bundle and package. Microsoft, Oracle and Cisco often toss decent-but-colorless products into existing product suites with very little incremental cost. This helps starve single-product competitors.
• Partner with the big boys. If you can get Yahoo (or IBM or Pfizer) to mention, endorse or co-market your product, it impresses customers. Even if the big boys never come through with a single sale of their own.
• Marketecture. Savvy product marketers can always describe their solution as a better fit with standards, upcoming technologies, industry leaders and the customer's own roadmap. Somehow, you are positioned as narrow, inflexible, a one-product company who arrived too early to see the important trends.
• New pricing metrics. Perhaps some customer segments prefer to pay per month (or per meal, per gigabyte, per job applicant, per virus detected) instead of your enterprise-wide annual license. Consider multiple pricing models.
• Sell high to non-techies. Customers use cross-functional teams to evaluate major purchases. Competitors may focus on the CFO, the compliance officer, or dangle a related sales opportunity in front of the customer's VP of Sales. Part of selling is identifying the "choosers" as well as the "users."

There's no magic here: other product folks will apply these tried-and-true strategies to take away your technical advantage.

So What Should We Do?

Start by realizing that technical selling is not a purely rational process. You need to understand your target market deeply, plan your next several competitive moves, and then arm your sales force with both rational and emotional tools to close the deal. Not only feature comparisons, but also usage scenarios with clear benefits, and perceptive stories that carefully position your company. Plus solid ROI justification for the finance folks.

Avoid technology-driven optimism. Competitors may already be offering substitutes to your (apparently) superior solution. Even those players with technically inferior products are working to distract customers and re-arrange perceptions. We often see "better" products lose to mediocre – but well-marketed – alternatives.

Sound Bytes

It's easy to believe your own hype about technically superior products, especially if it's true. Regardless, you still need to listen for the footsteps behind you – and plan competitively.

I thought this article was a good reminder for product managers...

Most product management professionals readily admit they spend too much time in the weeds on tasks that, at the end of the day, don't contribute much to the overall mission of the organization.  Here are three things product management professionals can do to be more effective doing what they're paid to do - managing the organization's primary source of revenue - its products.

1. Get Out Of The Building - So you're an expert on your product. Terrific! So are the engineers who built it - making your value marginal.

The bottom line is this:  if you spend the vast majority of your time entangled in products, your perspective on everything becomes product centric, a clear disconnect with the real world.  So get out of the building and put yourself in situations where you're learning about the business of your target customers and the market dynamics driving their businesses.  This knowledge will give you the credibility and respect necessary to drive key product and market decisions.

2. Get Out Of The Building - Remember the catch-phrase "you are what you eat?" A slight variation applies to product management - you are what you do. So if you spend the majority of your time down in the product weeds, you'll never be more than a product expert, and treated accordingly.

Get out of the building and improve your market and business domain expertise beyond anything present elsewhere in the organization.  The perspective that sales, services, support and individual customers bring to the table only represents a small slice of the real world.  Product management has to be the conscience of the organization with a bigger picture perspective so that product direction is constantly aligned with broader market needs.  It's much easier to influence others to your way of thinking when you've done your homework more thoroughly.

3. Get Out Of The Building - Expand your vocabulary beyond product talk and learn another language. If product management is supposed to represent the voice of the market, it needs to speak the same language. Who else is going to help sales, marketing, services and operations align with those who have your future revenue in their pockets?

The moral of the story is this:  Strong product management teams and great product managers are just as business savvy as they are product savvy.  Product managers need to know their products, but not so well that they mortgage their own ability to influence the future direction of those products.  After all, products are your lifeblood, but the only way they will continue to generate revenue is if product management can understand and articulate (to the rest of the organization) why the market needs them.

If your product management team is out of balance, sign them up for Leadership & Execution Skills for Product Managers where they'll learn simple tactics for understanding the bigger picture and transforming that expertise into execution to deliver market-leading products.

No talking heads.  No text book theories.  No hotel meeting rooms.  Experience a personalized workshop in a professional roundtable setting with training that's relevant to your circumstances and a simple framework that can be practiced right out of the classroom.

Tips Archive

Too busy for classroom training?  Try our On-Demand courses.

Join ZIGZAG Marketing for a 2-day hands-on workshop to learn five essentials that will help your product management function drive the company.  You'll leave with stronger leadership skills as well as best practices to simplify the day-to-day execution of planning and delivering products – all of which help grow product revenue.

Leadership & Execution Skills for Product Management 

Tampa, February 19-20, 2008

$1495 per person

REGISTER 

AGENDA

Day 1

• Create a single market assessment and use it to drive the company strategy, including all products
  • Segment and size markets to determine revenue opportunity
  • Analyze trends, competition and core competencies to determine market priorities
  • Prioritize market segments to drive strategy

• Create a single strategy that aligns products and operational initiatives with top priority market segments
  • Align annual goals with vision to establish clear direction
  • Create market and product roadmaps to drive operational alignment
  • Define cross-product solutions for key market segments
  • Define key operational initiatives required to execute strategy
  • Communicate strategy to improve organizational execution

• Align the product delivery team with the strategy
  • Define roles and responsibilities to support product delivery process and minimize disruptions
  • Align people with roles best suited to their personality type to improve productivity
  • Define transitions and deliverables between roles to eliminate bottlenecks

Day 2

• Plan Product Releases
  • Create target customer profiles to foster thinking from a customer perspective
  • Define business problems and business solutions before product requirements to ensure closed loop solutions across products
  • Validate and prioritize problems and solutions
  • Create the product release plan including rollout and launch activities

• Design & Develop Solutions
  • Design & validate the user experience
  • Create functional and technical specifications
  • Orchestrate the development cycle
  • Validate market readiness

• Readiness & Product Rollout
  • Create marketing, sales, service, training and support materials
  • Train and certify
  • Execute programs

Experience ZIGZAG Marketing training and learn how our framework  drives companies.

The below opportunity was forwarded to me by Jenna Papakalos. To contact, visit her linked in profile here: http://www.linkedin.com/in/jennapapakalos

"This is a top notch team who needs a product management professional with performance management experience. Take a look and I'll be happy to introduce you to anyone inside the company through my network. "

-Jenna

Company: Taleo
Job Title: Product Manager - Taleo Business Edition
Description: Careers - Powered by Taleo

At Taleo, we deliver on demand talent management solutions to leading companies worldwide so they can assess, acquire, and manage their workforce for improved business performance. To realize our vision of making our innovative and comprehensive solutions synonymous with talent leadership, we look to attract, hire, and retain the best talent in the industry.

As we progress through 2008, Taleo continues to solidify our leadership position as the leading provider of enterprise level workforce solutions with forward thinking global organizations. Our continued growth has resulted in an exciting opportunity within the Taleo Business Edition unit (TBE), our leading on-demand talent management solution designed for small and medium size companies. The TBE Product Manager will drive product design and development for potential product functional requirement, and help enhance functionality and utilization of the product in its future state through analyzing and applying industry trends, assisting with complex projects to improve products, and educating customers on the complexities of future functionality. Additional responsibilities include the following:

• Evaluate competitive threats and identifying new market opportunities
• Acquire and prioritize customer feedback and enhancements requests from Product Specialists; help to gather feedback on product requests and development needs.
• Meet with cross-departmental teams to help identify market trends and review new product specifications
• Assist in determining integration opportunities from across our product suite as needed
• Help assess international product needs and regulatory issues and maintain projects around these needs
• Support team in prioritization of short and long term product roadmaps
• Create and document product designs, functional specifications and process flows to help design future functionality of product
• Work with QA, Development, Documentation, Training and Marketing to execute rollout of new releases
• Provide first level User Acceptance Testing for software products prior to sending to QA
• Work as liaison between customers and internal sources.
• May hold key responsibility for specific new product modules or functionality; drives design, development, and analysis of modules through development life cycle

Qualifications:

• Bachelors Degree and 2+ years experience in a human resources, recruiting, resource management, performance management, staffing, compensation planning, compensation analyst or similar environment
• Experience using enterprise level software applications preferably working as the "admin" or super user of the application is a plus.
• General understanding of web concepts and technologies
• Analytical ability to synthesize complex or diverse information, collect and research data, use intuition and experience to complement data, design work flows and procedures.
• Ability to identify and resolve problems in a timely manner, gather and analyze information skillfully, develop alternative solutions, work well in group problem solving situations, and use reason even when dealing with emotional topics
• Ability to reason clearly and critically, reflectively distinguish fact from opinion, relevant from extraneous information, the relative importance of information
• Demonstrate the ability to organize work with efficiency to accommodate a work/life balance!!
• Must be able to travel occasionally

Come join our team and experience the Taleo difference! We offer competitive salaries and a range of benefits.