‘Product Team Performance’ Study Offers Data, Relevant Insights for Software Developers, Engineers and Other Product Designers

SILICON VALLEY, Calif. and PHOENIX, Ariz. (Sept. 29, 2016) – Accelerance, which connects SMBs that need software development services with the most qualified outsourcing firms on the planet, is the sponsor of a new survey and report – The Study of Product Team Performance 2016. The research, produced and co-presented by Actuation Consulting, dives into the product development mechanics that high-performing organizations embrace. It also looks at how to improve the effectiveness of a product team, methodologies for increasing a product’s profitability, and the success of outsourced/distributed teams, among other topics. The free report is available to download at Accelerance.com. Actuation Consulting is the leading global provider of product management consulting, training and advisory services.

The Study of Product Team Performance 2016, which identifies key factors that contribute to the success of product teams, considers the product development mechanics that high-performing organizations embrace. The study’s analysis shows strong correlations with high performance when organizations effectively prioritize their backlog, have a clear definition of “done” within the team, and don’t over emphasize development costs when prioritizing requirements, in addition to other critical performance indicators.

More than half (52.1 percent) of the survey respondents work for companies with technology as their primary focus. Other segments include: services (24.1 percent), consumer products (9.7 percent), education (5.1 percent) and government (1.6 percent).

A Few Highlights from the Report

• Three potential solutions stand out amongst respondents’ answers on how to improve a product team’s effectiveness. These include: 1) bring on highly-skilled engineering staff (40.2 percent), 2) improve cross-department communication (45.3 percent) and 3) provide training (34.6 percent). The answer the lowest percentage of respondents see as a solution is increasing the number of project managers or scrum masters (11 percent).
• While 43 percent of survey respondents indicate their product team consistently succeeds in meeting company expectations, the survey shows 57 percent of respondents say their product teams experience some difficulty in consistently meeting organizational expectations.
• A total of 52.1 percent of respondents name Agile/Scrum as the methodology most often associated with increasing their product’s profitability. Blended (some Waterfall, some Agile) is a distant second most frequently given answer with 22.4 percent of responses. While Waterfall (3.5 percent) and Kanban (2.8 percent) fall short, a significant 15.7 percent of respondents say they are unclear which methodology is associated with growing their product’s productivity.
• Almost 60 percent of respondents say their companies work through distributed teams outside their country. Of these, 11.9 percent report that distributed teams are more effective (10.3 percent) or significantly more effective (1.6 percent) than domestic development teams.
• Nearly 20 percent of survey respondents believe product development teams outside the country perform as well as in-country teams.
• The study's overall findings can be applied to offshore software outsourcing, which is a growing trend as an effective means of product development with one or more of the expert software outsourcing firms around the world.

Implement the ‘Indicators,’ Drive Success
“The Study of Product Team Performance 2016 offers high-value insights for software product companies, independent software vendors and other product teams,” says Steve Mezak, a software development expert and founder and CEO of Accelerance. “Whether you outsource product and software development or hire your own development team, the study’s critical performance indicators are a must-read, to help create successful and profitable products.”

Greg Geracie, a thought leader in the field of product management and president of Actuation Consulting, which produced the report, says, “Many of the key findings in The Study of Product Team Performance 2016 center around the growing adoption of Agile and best practices found in modern product development and engineering teams. Among the report’s discoveries, the most highly productive teams believe their effectiveness would increase though the use of better tools and automation.”

Geracie notes, “Product teams that have implemented effective team processes are looking to expand their uptake of DevOps and Extreme Programming practices with the latest automated refactoring, test, build and infrastructure-deployment tools.”

Mezak concludes, “As a leader in connecting companies with the world’s most talented global software development teams, Accelerance encourages any product team and its members – as well as enterprises embarking on a ‘digital transformation’ – to implement the study’s indicators to drive success. We’re delighted to sponsor this important study.”

Additional sponsors of the study include Planbox (@planbox) and ProjectConnections (@ProjConnections).

The Study of Product Team Performance 2016 is a free 21-page report with survey results, graphs and expert analysis. Get a copy of the study here.

About Accelerance
Accelerance connects SMBs that need software engineering services with the most qualified outsourcing firms on the planet. As the global outsourcing authority, we’ve developed a proven process for verifying the skills, references, business practices and trustworthiness of top software service providers in more than 60 countries so you can trust Accelerance providers to deliver. Our proprietary Rapid Referral System reduces the time it takes to identify and select a trusted outsourcing partner from five months to five days. Talk to an Accelerance Advisor about your software needs today.

Visit accelerance.com and follow Accelerance on Twitter: @accelerance.

About Actuation Consulting
Actuation Consulting is the leading global provider of product management consulting, training, and advisory services. Our clients include many of the world’s most well-known organizations such as The American Hospital Association, Clear Edge Filtration, eMoney Advisor, FLSmidth, Johnson & Johnson, Lebara, PointClickCare, Tactio Health Group and other organizations. Visit actuationconsulting.com and follow Actuation Consulting on Twitter: @TrainandConsult.

Note to Editors: Interviews and artwork (graphs) may be requested. Contact akiel@akPRGroup.com.