Successful Product Development Requires Alignment Between Stakeholders and Product Owners, Says Info-Tech Research Group in New Resource

The firm explains the importance of prioritizing developing Agile skills among product owners and family managers to enhance product development outcomes.

TORONTO, July 24, 2023 /PRNewswire/ - Though the role of product owner in application development is instrumental to consolidating customers' needs, business operations, and product delivery, the function of product ownership remains ambiguous within many organizations. Ideally, product owners ensure a constant rise in product value, yet they often act instead as a stand-in for stakeholder interests and lack the essential skills required for success. In response to this challenge, Info-Tech Research Group has released new research, Mature and Scale Product Ownership. The resource aims to help product companies strengthen the product owner role by focusing on core capabilities and proper alignment.

"Whether managing a product or service, the fundamentals of good product ownership are the same," says Hans Eckman, principal research director at Info-Tech Research Group. "To succeed in product ownership, organizations must create an environment of empowerment and service leadership to reinforce product owners and product family managers as the true owners of their products' vision, improvement, and realized value."

Info-Tech's latest research explains that product owners are frequently designated to projects or product delivery without adequate backing, guidance, or strategic alignment, illuminating the criticality of a customized and structured product ownership approach. However, the absence of product owners creates an alarming disconnect that is evident across lines of business, IT, and operations in many organizations.

To effectively meet evolving delivery needs, the firm advises creating a culture of product management trust and empowerment with product owners aligned to the operational structure and product needs. An organizational focus on developing product owners will enhance the quality of roadmaps, ensure alignment with enterprise goals, and optimize profit and loss for each product or service. This holistic approach enables businesses to adapt and thrive in changing market dynamics.

To further strengthen the role of product owners within an organization, Info-Tech recommends IT leaders focus on four core capabilities:

1. Vision: Informs which goals and capabilities are needed to fulfill a product or product family vision to align with enterprise goals and priorities.
2. Leadership: Leadership skills improve collaboration and decision making when working with stakeholders and product delivery teams. Fostering these skills builds trust and promotes sustained enhancements to the entire product lifecycle.
3. Value realization: Measures how well a product owner meets targets as well as impacts on the business value canvas and cost model.
4. Product lifecycle management: Delivers capabilities that create value realization.

According to Info-Tech's findings and recommendations in the new resource, stakeholders play a pivotal role in product ownership and serve as a cornerstone for success by providing the necessary context, alignment, and constraints that influence and guide a product owner's actions. Without a well-defined stakeholder strategy, product owners are likely to encounter obstacles, resistance, or unexpected changes along the way.

To learn more about strengthening a product owner's role in an organization, download the complete Mature and Scale Product Ownership blueprint.

Info-Tech Research Group is one of the world's leading information technology research and advisory firms, proudly serving over 30,000 IT professionals. The company produces unbiased and highly relevant research to help CIOs and IT leaders make strategic, timely, and well-informed decisions. For 25 years, Info-Tech has partnered closely with IT teams to provide them with everything they need, from actionable tools to analyst guidance, ensuring they deliver measurable results for their organizations.

Media professionals can register for unrestricted access to research across IT, HR, and software and over 200 IT and industry analysts through the firm's Media Insiders program. To gain access, contact Sufyan Al-Hassan, public relations manager at Info-Tech Research Group, at [email protected].

For more information about Info-Tech Research Group or to view the latest research, visit infotech.com and connect via LinkedIn and Twitter.

SOURCE Info-Tech Research Group