Article Overview:
The persistent success of technology based companies depends on their proficiency in creating next generation products and their derivatives. They found that most of the companies were unable to complete such projects on schedule. The companies also had difficulty developing the derivative products needed to fill the gaps in the market that their next-generation products would create. The root cause problem was in the product definition phase and not spontaneously; all the successful companies have learned how to handle the technical and marketplace uncertainties in their product definition processes. Paper describes the actions of companies used as best practices which can improve the definition phase of any company's product-development process. They have grouped the techniques into three categories and carefully lay out the steps that companies need to take as they work through each stage. They can help companies capture new markets without major delays and tools used by managers facing the uncertainty that goes with developing products for a global marketplace.
The product strategy being first step to create a clear map of company’s product stream for next 2 years. The challenge is to keep no holes for competitors to exploit opportunities. This step defines the product streams to include both products and their derivatives and it may not be final and can be revised at various miles stones in future.
The second step to develop project organization which could efficiently execute. There are three important aspects discussed in this paper. First is project team’s willingness to take the challenge and successfully convert the development of new platform products to their business units. Next to design the perfect size of team along with right blend of skills from definition to development process. Third is ability to match product development