Building Products for the Enterprise: Product Management in Enterprise Software

by Blair Reeves, Benjamin Gaines

Overview

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

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781492024781
Publisher:	O'Reilly Media, Incorporated
Publication date:	03/24/2018
Pages:	184
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.50(d)

About the Author

Blair Reeves is a principal product manager at SAS Software, and has previously held senior product and leadership roles at Demandware (now the Salesforce Commerce Cloud) and IBM. He speaks, writes, and consults on product management in enterprise software, remote workforces, and other topics. Blair is an avid hiker, writes and codes creatively, and believes inspired products are built first in the gym. He has an annoying Twitter habit at @BlairReeves.

Ben Gaines is a Group Product Manager for Adobe Analytics Cloud. In this role, he works closely with Adobe customers to understand their needs and guide the product strategy to address their most pressing problems. A native Bostonian transplanted to Salt Lake City, Ben plays basketball compulsively, and also enjoys cooking, tourism, and playing with his four kids. You can consume Ben's every waking thought on Twitter at @benjamingaines.

Table of Contents

Foreword ix

Preface xi

1 Why Product Management in the Enterprise Is Different 1

2 Who Are We Building For? 9

3 Three Types of Knowledge for a Product Manager to Seek 27

4 Organizational Knowledge 41

5 Product Knowledge 89

6 Building Better Products with Data 111

7 Industry Knowledge 121

8 The Product Managers 145

9 Conclusion 155

Index 157