Developing a Maturity Matrix for Software Product Management

The quality of processes in Software Product Management (SPM) has a high impact on the success of a software product, as it improves product quality and prevents release delays. To improve the SPM practice, we propose the maturity matrix for SPM, a focus area oriented maturity model concentrating on the SPM functions Requirements Management, Release Planning, Product Roadmapping, and Portfolio Management. In this paper, we describe the development of the SPM maturity matrix, consisting of (a) identification and description of capabilities, (b) positioning the capabilities at the right levels in the maturity matrix and (c) validating the maturity matrix with expert validation and a survey among 45 product managers and product management experts. The result is a validated maturity matrix that will guide further development of methodical support in SPM.

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