product-roadmap-haha

  We are frequently asked by our telecom customers to provide assistance on development of a product road map – or how do I develop a product roadmap? Here is a high level summary of key steps. To start you should aim to organise 1-2 days of time with your key stakeholders in order to […]

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telco-5g

  Almost exactly 2 years ago, we wrote our article about the top 5 telecom trends. We would like to expand on this now.   So far we have been in the right, mostly.   Our prediction around the move away from fixed and mobile voice services and commoditisation of data is definitely happening. Data […]

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MVNO

  Here are the main steps and activities that need to take place to create and successfully launch a MVNO (mobile virtual network operator).   We would suggest to start with market understanding: To build the business case you first need to understand the basics of the market. I.e. you need to know the market […]

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future

  The following are some of the key issues we have observed are shaping the telecom industry right now.   We see innovation and a strong focus on customer needs driven product development as two of the key factors that will differentiate future winners and losers in the telecom sector.   Move away from fixed […]

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nsd

  Several times over the years we had customers ask about the difference between new product development (NPD) and new service development training or service creation as some refer to it.  Let’s try to clarify the similarities and differences.   Fundamentally there is a difference in definition of product vs. service. Let’s use a common […]

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NPDP_Topics

  Some of our telecom customers have expressed interest in undertaking the PDMA (Product Development and Management Association) certification exam to qualify as NPDP (New Product Development Professional), which we strongly recommend and endorse.    Some of our trainers are already qualified NPDPs and have kindly compiled the below study aids based on the newly revised NPDP Body of […]

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telecom_product_cost_model

  Another question which we frequently deal with is around development of product cost models. This is a fairly complex process as it requires a multi-skilled team to collaborate, including experts in finance, engineering & IT – so it can be challenging. In terms of the approach, below development steps are used for creation of Fully […]

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wtp

  Recently we had telecom customer who was looking for some help on understanding and estimating customers willingness to pay (WTP).   Unfortunately the WTP is fairly complex however we will try to explain how you would calculate the WTP values and from there hopefully you can find some segment based use for it.   WTP […]

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Product Development Process

  This article has been prompted by many of our customers asking for a ‘magic bullet’ which will easily establish a new product development (NPD) process or framework for their business.   In our opinion the process (irrespective of how good and detailed it is) is just a start. The real challenge is getting the company and […]

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framework

  Many telecom organisations, large and small, and in both developing and developed countries are frequently presented with the challenge of finding the most suitable structure and approach to product management and product development.   Only last week we were in several meetings with organisations where the topic of Telecom Product Management Framework was brought […]

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launch-checklist

  Working with various customers around the world we have noticed how frequently their customers suffer from poor service which can be easily improved by adding a simple checklist to their product development process. We are talking about – Product Launch Checklist.   As you are approaching final stages of your development and your product […]

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apples-and-oranges

  You must hear about this topic in various circles. I will not pretend that my take on this is better than all the possible answers out there but I wanted to provide a view of how we at Parcus Group approach competitive differentiation development.   Every business has (or should have) an underlying competitive […]

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stacks_image_37939

With today’s telcos needing to do more than just sell carriage services in the face of ever increasing competition, it is only logical that they move into selling their customers managed services and applications that complement traditional carriage services. In the consumer and small business customer segments this can be done quite easily. But in the […]

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Marketing_ROI_Start

  Hi again…   Another one of our favourite questions which seems to come up on regular basis is the Marketing ROI… how to get it, calculate it, increase it etc…   Let’s start with the good old marketing maxim, attributed to Mr. John Wanamaker (American business man from late 1800s): “Half the money I […]

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supply-and-demand

  As a product manager in any industry the method of how to estimate market demand for a product will be one of the critical skills to develop. Here are some tips on how to go about this…   From the ‘market based’ business perspective, a key question to consider is: ‘how many customers are interested […]

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dilbert-hard-to-measure

  In our work all around the world, we often need to address the question of what are the strategic measures of success for Product Development projects…   It’s hard to know how to get somewhere if you don’t know where you want to go… The same thing applies to effective Product Development. Any new […]

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Climb

  We all know that Product Management is a tough gig!!! And that it takes a certain type of person who can handle the up’s and down’s of the gig. So what are the big challenges in your role? What is the hardest part of your job? Tell us about the last time that happened?  Why was […]

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rip-786x305

  A lot of organisations trying to find a faster way to bring capability to market  look to AGILE as a means to that end. Often they are larger organisations, hamstrung by bureaucratic processes and too many layers of decision making. AGILE is seen as a way to accelerate the development process vs traditional waterfall […]

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org

  Product management VPs and directors are sometimes required to make decisions on team structures in order to improve efficiencies, team productivity and moral.   We have seen two models applied to the product management team structure: functional and skills based. Functional model refers to a structure where for every distinct product you are likely […]

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books

  Very often we have been asked about best suggestions for growing of your skills as a product manager…. Like in any job, especially the one where you are required to come up with new things (thus the product development title also), it is essential you actually enjoy reading and learning in general. You need […]

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