Businesses that adopt product portfolio management will be able to avoid a slew of challenges.
Unfortunately, those who don’t adopt will frequently have far too many projects on the go, and not always the proper ones. Initiatives often fail to satisfy corporate objectives and are not connected with the innovative plan.
Hence, resources are stretched unevenly across all developments, which results in a shortage of project transparency and information availability for all team members that need it.
This is the reason why you need to look for the best product portfolio management tools in the market.
What is a product portfolio management tool?
The ideal product portfolio management system includes a comprehensive set of project management tools.
This usually includes:
- Risk and problem log
- A productivity index
- Reliable gateways
- Road-mapping
- Timelines
- Tallies
You may use engaging live data, comprehensive resource management, financial evaluations, records management, and process integration.
Product portfolio management tools primarily help in executing these things:
- Reducing costs
- Risk management
- Increasing income
- Minimizing time to market
- Monitor product growth potential
- Selecting and prioritizing initiatives
- Determining products and services for scaling
- Recognizing what products have to be discarded
- Handling, arranging and assessing products and services
- Allocating sufficient resources for product and service-related ventures
What are the benefits of using a product portfolio management tool?
There are several advantages of adopting product portfolio management solutions.
Some of them include:
- Revenue growth
- Reduced cycle time
- More product success
- Enhanced time to market
- Increase in pipeline value
- Effective product selection
- Improvement in productivity
- Decrease in project delivery times
- Achievement of strategic ambitions
What is the importance of a product portfolio management tool in innovation?
Here’s how product portfolio management can help in your innovation process:
- Product development experts may utilize product portfolio management tools in guiding new products from conception to commercialization. This method offers decision-makers the tools they need to capitalize on the correct ideas, initiatives, and resources in order to build a balanced and successful product portfolio.
- When used diligently, a product portfolio management tool allows you to regularly update your portfolio investments. This is usually done in response to changing market circumstances, competitive threats, regulatory needs, resource capacity, pipeline priorities, and other factors.
- In producing a new product, brand improvement, line extension, or product fix — using a gated process with a product portfolio management tool, along with a couple of technology initiatives, will help you choose the correct product mix for your portfolio.
- Choices regarding priorities, costs, resources, and risks cannot be made well if executives fail to understand the company’s product pipeline. Product portfolio management tools give that visibility through dashboardsthat monitor the key performance indicators at the micro and product line or geography stages.
- For enterprise-wide visibility, a product portfolio management tool integrates proven methodologies, scalable gated workflow patterns, advanced analytics, quality measures, and real-time on-demand statistics. The program not only gives crucial information at hand but also directs you through product development.
- A product portfolio management tool fosters the cultivation of great concepts by listening to the customers’ voices.
- Product portfolio management tools give tried-and-true techniques for selecting the proper items and projects for a well-balanced portfolio. Hence, these projects are given the resources they need to generate winning products, and they are completed correctly.
- Decisions to continually pursue or halt projects are made more easily and proactively, preventing bad projects from clogging the product development pipeline. Meaning, product portfolio management tools offer the complete visibility to make strategic innovations.
- Product portfolio management tools include the methodologies required to rank order projects based on important objectives such as predicted profitability and market direction. Companies can enhance their outcomes by focusing on higher-value initiatives.
- Product portfolio management tools boost the total return on product innovation investmentby optimizing product development procedures.
What are the best product portfolio management tools to use?
The following are the best product portfolio management tools in the market today:
1. Accept Mission
Accept Mission is a powerful idea and innovation management platform for businesses looking for next-generation innovation software.
It is the premier idea and innovation management platform, assisting companies in the generation and administration of exceptional ideas and innovation initiatives.
Both consumers and power users will find it easy to utilize. Furthermore, it seamlessly connects with business programs including Outlook, Teams, and Power BI.
Key features:
- Innovation dashboard
- Smart idea management
- Cross-platform idea management
- Upvoting, scoring, and sharing ideas
- Branding, settings, and custom fields
- Integration with your favorite BI platform
- Kanban board for drag-and-drop projects
- Tracking, optimizing, and reporting progress
- Advanced gamification for boosted engagement
- Data overview in key indicators, charts, and reports
If you want to learn more about its features, you can always visit our product tour page and see for yourself how Accept Mission could help you in product portfolio management.
2. Monday.com
Monday.com is a simple yet intuitive platform that helps individuals organize their work, fulfill expectations, and foster a transparent and collaborative culture.
This tool is ideal for simplifying discussions, assigning and monitoring tasks, and keeping people updated on important matters.
Key features:
- Customer service
- Automation of routine tasks
- Information maps, timelines, kanban boards
- Visually appealing and configurable templates
- Easy planning, monitoring, and executing work
3. Aha!
Aha is a blueprint software that allows you to construct a visual blueprint for your product’s approach, capabilities, and concepts.
Moreover, it can be integrated with other major systems that you use for product development.
Key features:
- Establishing strategies with readily designed templates
- Tracking objectives and high-level initiatives
- The drag-and-drop planning board
- Ideas portal even for customers
- Assessing and rating feedback
4. ProdPad
ProdPad is a full product management tool that aids the whole product life cycle.
It’s sophisticated, interactive software that connects with product development procedures throughout every phase and encourages collaboration all across the organization.
Key features:
- Sharing product roadmaps
- Powerful collaboration tools
- Collecting and tracking feedback
- Configuration of strategies into processes
- Measuring success in relation to objectives set
5. Propel
Propel integrates various product management processes (lifecycle, information, and quality) into a single system for powerful and efficient results, particularly in gathering all the necessary product information to bring every idea into a reality.
Key features:
- IT consolidation
- QMS replacement
- Field service management
- Identifying quality-related issues
- Defining product attributes for omnichannel sales
6. ProductPlan
ProductPlan is an excellent road-mapping program that specializes in creating simple roadmaps with drag-and-drop functionality.
You may use it to successfully explain your product vision and interact with your team on innovative ideas.
Key features:
- Integration with Jira
- Sharing real-time roadmaps
- Advanced security safeguards
- Indefinite free viewer accounts
- Simple, single storage for idea backlogs
7. Craft
Craft is a product management software that allows teams to complete their tasks, such as feedback collection, strategic planning, tactical awareness, roadmapping, and many more, in a single purpose-built solution that connects with the majority of today’s platforms.
Key features:
- Ready-made templates for prioritization
- Quality product management frameworks
- Evaluation of resource availability and allocation
- Gathering information for contextualized choices
- Integration with the most popular development and user feedback systems
8. Oracle PLM Cloud
Oracle Fusion Cloud PLM is a product lifecycle management tool that allows you to create and deploy new products quickly.
It encourages cooperation and assists you in bringing your greatest ideas to the market faster by standardizing and organizing the information and procedures involved in creating, producing, and commercializing goods and services.
Key features:
- Omnichannel commerce
- Consolidated product data
- Product commercialization
- Integrated issue management
- Integrated collaboration for external users
9. Workfront
Adobe Workfront is the industry standard for collaborative work management.
Workfront ties strategy to execution by connecting people and data throughout the company and managing work from start to end to assist teams in delivering demonstrable results.
At every stage of planning and executing work, Workfront enables the business capabilities that companies need to deliver exceptional customer experiences.
Key features:
- Streamlined workflows and resources
- Centralized project management
- Customized client management
- Automated work management
- Resource allocation
10. ProductBoard.com
Productboard ties everything together from customer input and analytics to interaction, participation, engagement, and prioritization to build a precise plan that everyone can support.
To satisfy the demands of product teams, the tool is created on an open platform.
Key features:
- User insights for informed decision-making
- Customized sharing of customer portals
- Standardized prioritization framework
- Consolidated customer feedback
- Customizable product roadmaps
Make product portfolio management easier
Managing a product portfolio can be challenging…
There are a lot of risks and difficulties that come with product development or innovation, particularly on the need to adapt to client preferences in order to increase value and profitability.
Effective product portfolio management — powered by the correct product portfolio management tools and accompanying technologies and other infrastructure — helps to simplify, standardize, and navigate these complexities.
Integrating the best product management tools and technologies into your company can have a significant impact on helping an idea or a notion take shape and become a reality.
Remember that the success and survival of every company hinge on how innovative they are in handling their product portfolio.
This includes designing new items that alter with the ever-changing preferences and wants of their consumers.
Fortunately, there are tools like Accept Mission that could help make product portfolio management easier. See for yourself how we could help by booking a demo today with no strings attached.