IT management: The key to improving product development

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• How does an idea turn into a brilliant product?’

Most of the people will say through tenacity, dedication, innovation & persistence. While all of them are fine answers, the first step towards an idea transpiring into a product is analysis. Analysis tells us what is the problem that needs to be solved? Analysis is the step which leads us towards innovation. Through analysis only can one achieve the sweet balance between the client requirement & product development.

In this article, we will discuss how SWOT analysis can help you enhance your product development cycle & deliver extraordinary results.

What is SWOT Analysis?

It is an acronym which is comprised of four words namely:

• 1. Strengths

• 2. Weaknesses

• 3. Opportunities

• 4. Threats

The purpose of SWOT analysis is to help you develop a strong business strategy. SWOT analysis encompasses scrutinizing your business strengths and weaknesses. Based on the results of the analysis, you can take strategic steps to better exploit any promising opportunities in the marketplace, while tackling possible threats.

The concepts on which SWOT Analysis functions can also be applied to enhance product development. It’s an integral part of the planning & execution strategy when it comes to IT management. In fact, there are a few colleges for MBA in Information technology in Pune, which provide specific education on how to develop IT strategies using SWOT Analysis.

Let’s take a look at the individual aspects of SWOT analysis to better understand how it impacts the product development in an IT project.

Strengths:

Strengths describe all the positive attributes, tangible and intangible both, of your organization. Understanding the strengths you have is important for you, because those are the aspects you will be banking on for product development. Asking yourself following questions can help you get an apt output-

1. 1. What are you good at doing?

2. 2. Do you have any edge over your competition?

Weaknesses:

Just like the strengths, one should also confront their weaknesses bluntly. Identifying & eliminating your weaknesses drives internal improvement. Ask yourself these questions to find them out-

1. 1. What are the ares in which you need to improve?

2. 2. What is it that your company/ team lacks?

Opportunities:

Opportunities arise due to the external factors which you may not be able to control but can very well benefit from them. Identification of lucrative opportunities offers a chance to prosper your business. You can reflect on following points to recognize possible opportunities:

1. 1. Which are the bright opportunities in your business area?

2. 2. Which is the most critical timing to best exploit an opportunity, if any?

Threats:

Threats are the unknown & uncontrollable factors which have the potential to put your strategy & hence, the business at risk. To stay ahead of them, you need to:

1. 1. Study existing/ potential competition in market

2. 2. Identify threatening situations

Thus, if you are a professional in IT field, then an Executive MBA in Pune can definitely help you in enhancing your IT Management skills and consequently, deliver better products.

Symbiosis Centre for Information Technology