As we continue our poll series to understand the priorities and challenges that product executives face (and yes, I am still obsessed with polling data as we draw closer to election season), I wanted to share the results from the second poll – like the first poll there were over 200 responses and represented a pretty solid cross-section of product management, marketing and development roles across all types of industries and geographies.

Here are the results: About 41 percent of total respondents, and 45 percent of large organizations, said less than 50 percent of product ideas come from customers, partners and suppliers.
Read the rest of this entry »

Being responsible for Accept’s Product Marketing function, I am continually trying to understand what product executives and brand owners are doing to bring those profitable products to market and what’s keeping them up at night. A few weeks ago we kicked off a series of online polls to understand these priorities and challenges that product executives face. Since its mid-term political season and I’m currently obsessed with polling data, I wanted to share the results from the first poll – which are very insightful. It’s worth noting that the poll had over 200 responses and represented a pretty solid cross-section of product management, marketing and development roles across all types of industries and geographies.

Here is the first poll question and the results:
Read the rest of this entry »

An awesome topic, worthy of a webinar.
Just a reminder that tomorrow we host the final webinar in our Transparency series, featuring Tom Grant [@TomGrantForr], Sr. Research Analyst at Forrester Research.

Technology-driven companies today have little tolerance for waste, mistakes, or failures in the product innovation process; the cost is simply too great in this post-recession environment. But there is opportunity at every step – from requirements through execution – to turn innovation into a strategic weapon.

Read the rest of this entry »

There is a simple reason why we must change the way we innovate: Survival.

The Great Recession has spawned competition from some unexpected places. Countries that were never considered as sources of innovation are now uncovering new markets and creating solutions to real business problems. Technology is not only making the world flatter, it is making it smaller and more responsive.

Business downturns are happening more frequently and causing more disruption, including jobless recoveries. With this compression of the business cycle comes shorter product lifecycles and the imperative to make the entire product planning and development process more agile.

Finally, the silo approach to innovation that is so prevalent today is not conducive to making customer-oriented products. Companies need to make transparency and open communication their number one focus, both internally and externally.

Only when data are shared, decision criteria are understood, and finger pointing is eliminated can companies build products that customers truly need and build them quickly.

As we enter the ‘New Normal’, after the Great Recession, many technology companies are fundamentally changing how they innovate. It’s not a new fad; continuous innovation has become a baseline core requirement to surviving the New Normal. Why? Market expectations of customer intimacy, shorter product lifecycles, accelerated economic volatility and new competitive threats are driving companies to be less tolerant of waste, mistakes and failures in the innovation process. Success, and revenue growth, means defining and taking the right products to the right markets at the right time while mitigating the risks of missing market and customer requirements.

In short, Innovation Management is once again emerging as the life blood of many companies to accelerate short-term profitability and drive long-term growth.
Read the rest of this entry »