Yesterday I posted about the defining characteristics of a product. In conversations with customers, we've often found it useful to discuss an example of a "product" that illustrates how a product might be distinct from other investment types such as applications or systems.
Here's one example of a possible
product:
- Airline Check-In
- Durable asset/sequence that receives recurring investment and an indeterminate end date
- Has a manager (or group of managers) responsible for the experience
- In this case, the airline may use it "internally" to place people on their own planes or contract it for use "externally" with regional carriers (as an example)
- The check-in process actually ties into several different systems (or potentially other products)
- Flightline operations (to determine flight status -- on-time, delayed)
- Seat selection (may be contracted to a 3rd party)
- Baggage handling (how many bags, overweight or not)
- Booking (changes or cancellation)
- Frequent traveler (in case traveler status affects seat availability, baggage charges, etc)
- Promotions/marketing (if we want to upsell additional flight features)
- (Major) Goal is to put people on planes as efficiently as possible
- Could have cross-management/dependency with mobile app, airport operations (for in-person kiosks or desk), etc.
The main point here is that "products" is not necessarily synonymous with "applications." It
might be if a system is significant enough or provides obvious business value on its own, but you may find it better to bundle several systems into a
product in order to articulate the business value.
Have your own examples? Questions on the definition? Issues with or suggestions for the example? Hit us up in the comments.