Whole Product Roadmap Case Study
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The document outlines a whole product roadmap developed for an application software company providing laboratory information management systems (LIMS) software to genomic labs. The roadmap was created using a framework involving qualitative and quantitative customer research, competitive analysis, and identifying capabilities to address across five dimensions. Key elements of the strategic roadmap included a role-based user interface, API for integration, preconfigured instrument interface, improved search and reporting, regulatory compliance, and partnerships. The roadmap was communicated internally and externally and helped guide the company's product strategy and generate thought leadership.
Whole Product Roadmap Case Study
- 1. CASE STUDY © 2015 BRUCE PHARR | SCIENCE&TECHNOLOGYMARKETING www.brucepharr.com Whole Product Roadmap for Life Sciences Application Software
- 2. WHOLE PRODUCT ROADMAP | 2 “The point of greatest peril in the development of an emerging technology-based market lies in making the transition from an early market dominated by a few visionary customers to a mainstream market dominated by a large block of customers who are predominantly pragmatists. Pragmatists evaluate and buy whole products.” Geoffrey Moore, Crossing the Chasm
- 3. WHOLE PRODUCT ROADMAP | 3 INTRODUCTION | WHOLE PRODUCT ROADMAP
- 4. WHOLE PRODUCT ROADMAP | 4 A WHOLE APPLICATION SOFTWARE PRODUCT The whole product concept, initially described by Theodore Levitt, plays a central role in Geoffrey Moore’s classic book on technology marketing, Crossing the Chasm: Marketing and Selling Disruptive Products to Mainstream Customers. The whole product includes everything necessary for the pragmatic mainstream customer to derive immediate value without having to build or buy additional products or services. Application software poses special whole product issues, given its abstract nature. Where does the whole application software product begin and end? What are the complete dimensions of a whole application software product? What whole product capabilities should be built into the application software? What whole product capabilities should partners deliver? While the whole application software product strategy includes documentation, training, and services, it begins with a whole product roadmap.
- 5. WHOLE PRODUCT ROADMAP | 5 WHOLE PRODUCT ROADMAP PURPOSE AND TIMEFRAME The whole product roadmap, fundamentally, plots the release or introduction of new and/or improved capabilities on a timeline. The whole product roadmap serves several purposes: It is a tool for product managers to map the product strategy over a timeframe. It keeps everyone on the same page and provides a broad view of both capabilities and a release schedule. It is a mechanism for communicating the product strategy (and possibly a schedule) to internal and external audiences. An appropriate timeframe for a whole product strategy: 1. Is no longer than the time period for which you can make reasonably good predictions. 2. Encompasses the longest lead-time decision.
- 6. WHOLE PRODUCT ROADMAP | 6 WHOLE PRODUCT ROADMAP STAKEHOLDERS AND AUDIENCES The stakeholders for the whole product roadmap are product management and marketing, product design, product development, sales, and services. The stakeholders are, collectively, responsible for: Allocating limited resources for programs and activities that drive profitable growth. Ensuring successful execution of the programs. Therefore, it is imperative that the key stakeholders are aware of, and in agreement with, the details of the whole product roadmap and the release schedule. Beyond the stakeholders, audiences for the product roadmap include employees within the company, customers, prospective customers, board members, investors, and potential investors. It is neither necessary nor advisable that these audiences see the detailed whole product roadmap used by the stakeholders. Rather, modifications should be made to transform the detailed roadmap into a version that is appropriate for each audience. Usually, this is high-level information with a concise, clear message presented in an easy to understand format.
- 7. WHOLE PRODUCT ROADMAP | 7 WHOLE APPLICATION SOFTWARE PRODUCT ROADMAP PARADIGM The development process examines the product in five dimensions as shown in Diagram 1. 1. Core capabilities are functional (e.g., data management) and non-functional (e.g., system architecture) product characteristics. 2. Human interface addresses the interactive behavior of the product with people (personas and scenarios). 3. Machine interface addresses the interactive behavior of the product with instruments and other hardware components (e.g., printer). 4. Upstream data sources are software or databases that feed data directly to the product. 5. Downstream data receivers are software or databases fed data directly from the product. Diagram 2 is a simplified view of laboratory information management system (LIMS) software used in a genomics lab. Upstream sources provide contextual data for the DNA and RNA samples to be tested. Core functional capabilities are management of samples, tests, and results. Instruments—monitored by lab personnel through user interfaces—perform laboratory tests. Contextual, test, and instrument run data moves downstream for analysis.
- 8. WHOLE PRODUCT ROADMAP | 8 CORE PRODUCT CAPABILITIES DIAGRAM 1: FIVE DIMENSIONS OF THE WHOLE PRODUCT UPSTREAM DATA DOWNSTREAM DATA MACHINE INTERFACE HUMAN INTERFACE 1 4 5 3 2
- 9. WHOLE PRODUCT ROADMAP | 9 DIAGRAM 2: WHOLE PRODUCT GENOMICS LIMS SOFTWARE UPSTREAM APPLICATIONS (DNA/RNA SAMPLE CONTEXTUAL DATA) A whole product LIMS delivers end-to-end analytical laboratory management of samples, tests, and results data. USER INTERFACES LIMS SOFTWARE LABORATORY INSTRUMENTS DOWNSTREAM APPLICATIONS (ANALYSIS)
- 10. WHOLE PRODUCT ROADMAP | 10 3-C STRATEGIC RESEARCH AND ANALYSIS In his classic book, The Mind of the Strategist, Kenichi Ohmae states, “The purpose of strategy is to maximize competitive advantage, strategy begins with analysis, and the ‘strategic triangle’ of customers, competitors, and company is an effective analysis framework for identifying competitive advantage.” CUSTOMER COMPETITOR STRATEGIC TRIANGLE COMPANY
- 11. WHOLE PRODUCT ROADMAP | 11 WHOLE PRODUCT ROADMAP DEVELOPMENT FRAMEWORK Five questions are posed for each of the five product dimensions during analysis and strategy development. The five questions, illustrated in Diagram 3, are: 1. What do customers desire? 2. How well are competitors satisfying customers' desires? 3. Which desires should we satisfy to profitably grow our business? 4. What can and should we build? 5. What should we provide through partnerships? Partnerships, or alliances, are extremely important in delivering a whole product quickly and efficiently. Partners can deliver best-of-breed capabilities to augment the core product that would be difficult, costly, and too time consuming for the application software developer to attempt to build from scratch. Geoffrey Moore is very clear about the purpose of partnerships, or alliances. “Alliances have one and only one purpose: to accelerate the formation of whole product infrastructure within a specific target market segment.”
- 12. WHOLE PRODUCT ROADMAP | 12 DIAGRAM 3: FIVE KEY QUESTIONS TO ANSWER PARTNERS What should we provide through partnerships? DEVELOPMENT What can and should we build? COMPANY Which desires should we satisfy to profitably grow our business? COMPETITORS How well are competitors satisfying customers' desires? CUSTOMERS What do customers desire?
- 13. WHOLE PRODUCT ROADMAP | 13 CASE STUDY | WHOLE PRODUCT ROADMAP
- 14. WHOLE PRODUCT ROADMAP | 14 QUALITATIVE CUSTOMER RESEARCH Developing a product roadmap starts with understanding WHAT present customers, prospective customers, and non-customers desire in a genomics LIMS. Present Customers – What product improvements or additional capabilities are your present customers requesting? Prospective Customers – What are the major product objections being raised by prospective customers? Non-Customers – What product issues caused you to lose deals to competitors? In the initial qualitative phase of research, you should develop as complete and comprehensive a list of product capabilities as possible. Do not prematurely edit the list. HOW important each capability is will be determined in the next quantitative phase of research and analysis.
- 15. WHOLE PRODUCT ROADMAP | 15 QUANTITATIVE CUSTOMER RESEARCH Once your list is complete, the next step is to rate HOW important each capability is to a sample of present customers, prospective customers, and non-customers. Following are the results from interviews conducted with genomic lab scientists and managers. 7.1 7.8 8.2 8.3 8.3 8.6 8.6 8.9 9.1 9.2 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Regulatory Compliance Seamless Instrument Integration Invoicing Robust Search Query Multiple User Access Multiplex Runs for NGS Scalability Secure Access Sample Tracking User Friendly Interfaces
- 16. WHOLE PRODUCT ROADMAP | 16 COMPETITIVE ANALYSIS Competitive analysis requires ruthless honesty in assessing your performance versus the performance of your competitors. The following matrix shows relative performance among competitors based on feedback from customers, prospects, non-customers, and internal stakeholders in customer-facing roles. PRODUCT CAPABILITIES Company Competitor A Competitor B Competitor C Competitor D Competitor E User-‐friendly interface WEAK WEAK STRONG WEAK WEAK WEAK Sample Tracking STRONG STRONG STRONG STRONG STRONG STRONG Secure Access STRONG STRONG STRONG STRONG STRONG STRONG Scalability STRONG STRONG STRONG STRONG STRONG STRONG Multiplex Runs for NGS MODERATE WEAK WEAK WEAK WEAK WEAK Report Configuration and Generation MODERATE WEAK MODERATE WEAK MODERATE WEAK Robust Search Query MODERATE DK DK DK DK DK Invoicing WEAK WEAK WEAK WEAK MODERATE WEAK Seamless instrument integration MODERATE MODERATE MODERATE WEAK WEAK WEAK Regulatory Compliance (CLIA/CAP) MODERATE STRONG WEAK WEAK WEAK WEAK
- 17. WHOLE PRODUCT ROADMAP | 17 A WHOLE PRODUCT STRATEGY FOR COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE A critical analysis of the competitive matrix (prior page) shows that all LIMS perform well in the fundamental requirements of sample tracking, secure access, and scalability. However, no company’s product performed well in many other capabilities desired by customers. Therefore, the goal of achieving clear competitive advantage requires transforming moderate and weak performance to strong performance across all desired capabilities. The whole product roadmap provides a strategy to achieve this goal by addressing six key elements: 1. Role-based user interface (page 18). 2. API for upstream, downstream, and instrument integrations (page 19). 3. Preconfigured instrument interface (page 20). 4. Search query and reporting (page 21). 5. Regulatory compliance for clinical genomics (page 22). 6. Partnerships with major NGS instrumentation vendors (Illumina, Life Technologies, and Roche) to facilitate seamless instrument integration and multiplex sequencing runs, and with a core lab business management vendor for invoicing (iLab Solutions).
- 18. WHOLE PRODUCT ROADMAP | 18 ROLE-BASED USER INTERFACE A role-based user interface enables lab scientists to achieve their daily goals faster and easier by simplifying interactions and providing views that display “all the information needed and only the information needed” for samples and experiments.
- 19. WHOLE PRODUCT ROADMAP | 19 RAPID SCRIPTING APPLICATION PROGRAMMING INTERFACE (API) A REST-based API delivers benefits to the company, its customers, and its partners. Company: Preconfigured packages for upstream apps, downstream apps, and instruments. Customers: Customize workflows quickly and easily without hard-coding or added costs. Partners: Enable complementary applications through shared technologies (REST and EPP) for interoperability.
- 20. WHOLE PRODUCT ROADMAP | 20 PRECONFIGURED INSTRUMENT INTERFACE PACKAGE A preconfigured package allows for faster implementation of software that automates complex lab information management from sample and library preparation, through pooling and sequencing, to de-multiplexing and data conversion for reporting and analysis.
- 21. WHOLE PRODUCT ROADMAP | 21 SEARCH QUERY AND REPORTING The reporting element of the roadmap had two phases: 1) preconfigured reports for NGS sequencing (below), delivered as part of the preconfigured instrument interface package, and 2) operational reports for lab scientists and managers, delivered from dashboard views as part of the role-based user interfaces.
- 22. WHOLE PRODUCT ROADMAP | 22 REGULATORY COMPLIANCE FOR CLINICAL GENOMICS Regulatory Requirements • CLIA • CAP/ISO 15189 • 21 CFR part 11 Security Capabilities • Control the authorization and authentication of personnel with access to sample and test data. • Control the role-based authorization, access to, and use of sample and test data. • Control the integrity (create, modify, maintain, and transmit) of sample and test data. • Control the authorization, authentication, and integrity procedures for electronic records and signatures. Auditing Capabilities • Allow identification of all individuals who have entered or modified data, files or programs. • Record time-sequenced development and modification of systems documentation.
- 23. WHOLE PRODUCT ROADMAP | 23 CONCLUSION The whole product roadmap framework is a combination of best practices and three decades of experience. The specific whole product roadmap for laboratory information management system (LIMS) software was developed in late 2010. The API, preconfigured instrument interface, and preconfigured reports for NGS sequencing were delivered in 2011, and partnerships were initiated and strengthened. The role-based user interface, operational reports, and regulatory requirements for clinical genomics were scoped for delivery in 2012 and 2013. The whole product roadmap was used with three key audiences to communicate the overall product strategy and critical capabilities throughout 2011 and early 2012. 1. Employees – The roadmap was frequently reviewed with employees to align functions for strategic execution across the company. 2. Customers – The roadmap was reviewed with customers to show an upgrade path for their evolving needs, and it was instrumental in maintenance agreement renewals. 3. Media – The roadmap was introduced to key online and offline publications in early 2011, and it helped generate over a dozen interviews and articles in key online and print publications over the next 12 months, helping establish thought leadership in data management for basic, translational, and clinical genomics research.
- 24. WHOLE PRODUCT ROADMAP | 24 ABOUT BRUCE PHARR I live in the San Francisco Bay Area with my wife and son. I hike in the Santa Cruz Mountains, eat good food, drink good wine, root for the SF Giants, and indulge a passion for the arts. I serve as a strategic advisor, senior consultant, and contract corporate executive with innovative science and technology companies in life sciences, healthcare, energy storage, instrumentation, and semiconductors. I have a track record of helping companies create competitive advantage, grow revenue and market share, and increase enterprise value. And I’ve contributed to several successful M&A events. I am a subject matter expert in basic, translational, and clinical research systems. I have led or contributed to the development of market and product requirements for biomedical, genomic, and NGS products, written thought- leader white papers, case studies, and articles for leading online and print publications, and developed and delivered presentations at major biomedical conferences. I led development and execution of the whole product roadmap while serving as vice president, products and marketing at GenoLogics Life Sciences Software. The roadmap enabled the company to transition from developing custom software, customer-by-customer, for early adopters to delivering whole product laboratory information management system software to early majority customers.