The gap this fills
Software projects fail in the gap between the business and the developers. The business knows what it wants but not how to specify it; the developers build what was specified. Nobody owns the whole thing. In a large company that person is a product owner or a CTO. In a business of 10 to 100 people, that person usually does not exist, and the job lands on a manager who already has one.
Applicable's Virtual Product Owner fills that seat, part-time, for as long as the project needs it. John Halvorsen-Jones, Applicable's founder, has 30 years in technology and has run this role for clients since 2014.
What the Virtual Product Owner does
For a new product:
- Articulate the problem or the idea clearly, in writing.
- Get close to your users and understand their world before anything is designed.
- Assess market fit and the technology options.
- Design the product at the level of screens, flows and data.
- Choose the technology pathway and, if needed, the vendor.
During the build, whoever is building it:
- Own the vision agreed with stakeholders.
- Act as the liaison between your business, the developers and other vendors.
- Manage the budget and monitor cost against scope.
- Keep the documentation current.
- Prioritise the roadmap and the backlog.
- Run user acceptance testing with your people.
Fractional CTO for New Zealand businesses
Clients sometimes call this a fractional CTO, and for a business with no other technical leadership that is what it is: technology strategy, vendor selection, security and hosting decisions, and a straight answer on what is worth building. The difference from an interim CTO is that the Virtual Product Owner is hands-on with the project, not only advisory.
Working with another developer
The Virtual Product Owner does not require Applicable to build the software. Some clients have an existing developer, an offshore team, or a product that has been half built by a previous vendor. We can run it from your side regardless.
Start with the Digital Strategy package: NZ$5,000 plus GST
Most Virtual Product Owner engagements start with a fixed-price strategy package. With over 15 years of digital strategy and delivery experience, the Applicable team have lived the practical realities of digital projects, and the package puts that to work on your business in 34 hours of consulting and delivery time, over eight steps:
- Initial fact finding
- Objective setting
- Deep dive into your business operations
- First strategy workshop (2 hours)
- First presentation
- Second strategy workshop (2 hours)
- Final presentation
- Strategy write-up
The written strategy typically covers: business objectives, target market, product-solution fit, digital go-to-market, an IT and software roadmap, implementation approach, requirements briefs for anything to be built, a digital marketing plan and vendor recommendations. You keep it whether or not you go on to build anything with us.
The retainer
After the strategy, or straight in if you already have a project underway, the Virtual Product Owner works on a monthly retainer scoped to the project's phase: heavier during discovery and scoping, lighter during a steady build. A typical engagement runs NZ$4,000 to NZ$12,000 plus GST per month. Fixed for each phase, reviewed at each phase boundary.
Need more than one person? Virtual Teams
For longer roadmaps we can put a team around the Virtual Product Owner: one or more developers, NZ-based or top-tier offshore, full- or part-time, billed on logged hours with published notice periods.
Key takeaways
- A Virtual Product Owner owns your software project from the client's side: vision, budget, vendors, roadmap, testing.
- It is for businesses that need a technical lead but cannot justify a full-time hire.
- Applicable's VPO works with your existing developer or team; Applicable does not have to build the software.
- The Digital Strategy package is a fixed NZ$5,000 plus GST for 34 hours over eight steps, ending in a written strategy the client keeps.
- The retainer that follows is typically NZ$4,000 to NZ$12,000 plus GST per month, fixed per phase.