Mission Product Development

Over the last decade or so, powered by its manpower strength, India has

emerged as a major IT hub as far as software services and long-term IT projects

are concerned. But when it comes to product development, the country has not yet

been able to make a mark.

To achieve the long-term goal of a successful product development cycle, the

Hyderabad software exporters association (Hysea) has decided to concentrate on

PPT (People, Process and Technology). The association has identified Products

and Quality as its key focus areas. Given the presence of several start-up

product companies, Hysea has launched a new initiative called the ‘Product

Leadership Accelerator’. "Product companies have a high risk-high return

model and start up companies face an uphill task. We at Hysea would like to play

a facilitating role to help them minimize risks and maximize returns," says

Shakti Sagar, President Hysea.

The India experience



When we talk of product development there are no global success stories to

tell. And if we go further into finding out the reasons behind this lack of

product development approach, there are a number of factors behind that. Product

development has usually been a part of the larger suite of offerings and has not

been considered seriously as an individual solution. An early entry strategy can

give the product Development Company a first mover advantage and an easy

recognition with the segment, but again the survival of the product is directly

linked to the survival of that niche category or segment. "You can

experience an attack from a worldwide heavyweight who learns from your mistakes.

So early success is always hard to scale. Fast paced gain for Indian product

companies is very hard to achieve," said, Jay Raghavendra Pullur, Founder

and CEO, Pramati Technologies.

Best practices for product development



Assessing the entire product portfolio is very important. Product

development strategy can have a measurable impact on revenue growth, and most

companies are moving from Stage 1 to Stage 2 by focusing on customizable

processes and cross-functional teams, according to Pullur. Hard-pressed for time

and money, we want faster, better, and cheaper in everything we do. Yet, a fast

cycle time can have its price, so it should not always be the primary emphasis.

Often, the cost of short cycle time manifests itself as trade-off with other

project objectives, such as development expense, recurring manufacturing cost,

or product features. Any of these objectives might be improved by stretching out

cycle time.

Customer voice



It seems obvious and even overstated that listening to customers is vital to

a business’s success. So why is it so difficult? Old habits die hard. There’s

too much data out there already, it’s hard to listen and more importantly, to

be objective. The critical first step for any Quality initiative understands

"The Voice of the Customer". Many companies begin projects by

generating "Voices" internally–using existing market research data,

brainstorming with engineers, etc. However, customers define quality differently

than companies.

Research & development



"R&D will only become more critical, as product life cycles shrink

and new product development and time to market become even higher

priorities," Pullur explained. At many companies, however, the R&D

never delivers. The problem, often, is a disconnect between the two phases of

the R&D process. Typically, once a product is developed, marketers focus on

sales while the designers go on to the next project, leaving no one with

responsibility for overseeing the overall effort. Though there might not be many

success stories to tell, but if we continue with a focused approach and efforts,

product development can well be India’s forte in the future.

Zia Askari



(Cyber News Service)