Search Content


Content Categories



Gilbert and Sullivan present: The High-Tech Product Manager

I’ve always liked the Major General’s song from The Pirates of Penzance.

Here’s how Gilbert and Sullivan *may* have described high-tech Product Managers.

I am the very model of a high-tech product manager,
I’ve information customer, partner and competitor.
I know the product roadmap and I wrote the full requirements,
From  strategic to tactical, all detailed in my documents.

I’m very well acquainted, too with matters very technical,
I understand development, agile, lean and waterfall.
On MRDs and PRDs I’m really eager to create
All the information that will make our products really great.

I am very good with customers and early stage prospects;
I listen to them carefully and track all of their change requests.
I then prioritize them into releases point and major;
I am the very model of a high-tech product manager.

I will answer all questions that will save an opportunity;
I really wish the reps would use a real sales methodology.
I always ask the prospects about the problems they must solve;
And then I’ll help the SEs create solutions that can evolve.

I bring this insight to HQ and deliver it accordingly;
I need the engineers to implement it all whole heartedly.
Then I can move along and start helping product marketing,
To understand the new solution and adjust positioning.

I define new offerings and also write the business case;
competitively speaking, I’m not satisfied with second place.
In short, in matters customer, partner and competitor,
I am the very model of a high-tech product manager

I  have worked in other jobs as a sales rep and a marketer;
I even spent two long years as a database developer.
But I would wonder constantly what kind of role  was best for me;
I thought and thought and talk to others,  then I found some clarity.
I really am a business person, with fondness for technology
I blend it all together to create great product strategy

I think Product Manager was the job that was meant for me.
Yet I wonder if others think I’m easy going or cranky?
I only hope  the role will grow real soon into maturity.
But still in matters customer, partner and competitor
I am the very model of a high-tech Product Manager.

 

And here are two versions of the song. The original, and  my favourite spoof of the original.



Related Enterprise Application Integration Articles

Adding search power to public data


Earthquakes are not the only thing that can shake Silicon Valley. After the dot-com bubble burst back in 2000 the unemployment rate ofSanta Clara county went up to 9.1%. During the last couple of months, it has gone up again: ...

Read more about Adding search power to public data...

Amazon and Pownce Shut Down APIs


Amazon has announced that they will no longer be supporting the Alexa Web Search API. This web service has been in operation since December 2005 and offered developers access to Alexa's underlying search engine. Note, this search API is different...

Read more about Amazon and Pownce Shut Down APIs...