There's a New Layer in Town
There is a new layer of technology in play now -- the platform layer. Platforms give us amazing new potential to do things better. But they require a new core competence within your organization, a new type of management, in order to steer the development of those platforms. Developing, maintaining, and managing the product roadmap is the core responsibility of the product team in general, and of the product manager specifically.
A Stripe in Your Org Chart
A technology accelerator team should be its own department -- its own stripe in the org chart. Critical problems get introduced when the team lives under a “service” oriented department like Operations, a specific purpose-oriented team such as Fundraising, Communications, or Programs, or gets mixed with I.T.…
This is Not Traditional I.T.
There is an important distinction between Products and traditional IT. The Product Team must not be pulled into IT roles, even if they seem to be more "tech savvy" than other people in the organization. Eyes will be taken off the ball, and crucial balls will be dropped...
Two Great Reasons Not to Combine Digital Products and IT Operations
Don’t combine IT and Digital Products. Don’t do it. They are not the same thing. They pull in different directions. Everyone loses. That said, we have seen enough times that this can be a hard separation to pull the trigger on. So here are a couple great reasons to help you marshal your courage and build your case.
You Can't Outsource The Brains
There are some things you can -- and probably should -- outsource. What you can never outsource is the brains of your technology operation.
Dishwashers Don't Need Roadmaps
We use the analogy of a dishwasher to help explain technology that we see as belonging under the purview of traditional I.T., as opposed to digital products. Traditional I.T. products, we say, are like dishwashers....