How is SaaS Changing Product Management – A Research Thesis

Paddy Barrett in Ireland is preparing his Master’s thesis on Product Management and would like to interview (USA) state-side product managers for his primary research. It would be awesome if you could help him, and help us all.

My Connection

I am a visiting lecturer as part of the Dublin Institute of Technology’s Product Management degree program. Paddy was one of my students, and is now pursuing an interesting research topic for his master’s thesis. Many of us here have anecdotal data about our personal experiences in product management as our employers develop cloud-based solutions and software-as-a-service (SaaS) product offerings. These changes in business model and infrastructure may be causing shifts in product management too. Applying our own “be data driven” philosophy to understanding how this impacts product management just makes sense.

Paddy’s Research

The topic of his research is “How does the shift to the cloud change the role and activities of the product manager?”

Here’s his request in his own words:

The interview would last for a maximum of one hour and would cover the following core areas: cross-functional teamwork, decision-making processes, customer relationships, pricing, product life cycle management, continuous release, new product development, key personal qualities and skills.

[Paddy hopes] to uncover patterns of activities or concerns that might lead to new best practice recommendations. He’ll send you the transcript of the interview for your approval and, later, a copy of his thesis.

If you can spare an hour to help Paddy with his research, please mail him here: pbarrett_research@yahoo.ie.

My Appeal

It can be incredibly frustrating and difficult to find people willing to share time with you for a research project. And product managers have ridiculously tight schedules, exacerbating the problem. Wouldn’t it be awesome if you (you, personally – who are reading this right now) were willing to multi-task during your drive to work or your lunch hour, and provide him with what he needs. It would be great to overwhelm him with information. Aside from making his life harder (which all teachers should do), it will also make his research much better by giving more data points, and therefore it makes it more useful for all of us.

I know how many people read the articles at Tyner Blain (thanks!), so I know what we could accomplish here. Let’s overwhelm Paddy with data! Please pass this along to your colleagues too!

Also – while he’s asking about the USA, if you’re somewhere else, contact him anyway. Let’s give him the opportunity to get good global coverage.