Introduction to Hardware Product Management

I like to keep introductions short . I have been really inspired by the Product Management community. Blogging in the community has been both a source of disseminating information as well as learning new things. The thought process behind starting this blog was, it could be a good way for someone like me to pass on my experiences.

My experiences in Product Management are unique as I deal with Hardware Product Management in the Telecommunications domain. This requires Domain expertise in Telecommunications (both Service Provider and MSO) as well as knowledge of Hardware (when to OEM a product, design a product etc) and Product Management principles.

When I started out in this function, I found it really difficult to transition from a SE/Support type background to such a diverse techno-management type background. Hopefully this blog can chronicle some of that journey and be a road map for the new product manager who has to deal with Technology and Hardware Product Management. Especially since most of the time you are expected to hit the ground running in this domain.

Product Management or as is usually referred to Profit Management is the process of keeping your product offering profitable in the market throughout its lifecyle. Typically the same broad sets of rules govern management of any offering. However when you look closely, Product Management can typically be divided into

1. 1. Software Product Management
2. 2. Hardware Product Management
3. 3. Services Management (yeah I consider services as a product)

These days due to initiatives like SaaS (Software as a Service) the line between 1 and 3 is continuously blurring. However, there are still services like hospitality which are typically core services. However for all practical purposes items 1 and 3 are beyond the scope of this blog.

If you want to learn about Software Product Management, there are lots of sites in the blog roll, which are a superb resource for the same. In this blog we will introduce some of the important concepts you encounter and tune as a Hardware Product Manager.

Feel free to comment/ correct me in this journey as I consider myself always a student of this domain and would love to keep learning.

Cheers

Pranav