The terms software product development and product development are often used interchangeably within the software industry. Although this is common practice in recent times, and the terms can be used interchangeably to some degree, these are distinct processes that must be treated as such. A near-universal substitution of these terms can generate substantial confusion within the industry.
So, how similar are these processes? And what are the differences? Should you even be swapping these terms? This short blog post will clear your confusion once and for all.
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Product development is best understood from an economic perspective. The Economic Times simply defines a product as the ‘item’ offered for sale [1]. So everything from your groceries to your computers and cars, everything you buy is a product.
Products are further classified as products (tangible items like jewelry) and services (intangible items like insurance and customer support). For the purposes of this article, it suffices to think of them collectively as ‘products.’ So, a product refers to every item the consumer pays for.
Now that the definition of product is clear, it’s super easy to understand product development. Product development is the process of designing, developing, and delivering a product to the market. As such, product development is the core aspect of every business, be it a small-scale manufacturing unit or a multinational corporation.
A business cannot exist without a product (and service). The success/failure of any venture depends extensively on the product. That’s why an extensive product development process has been defined over the years to perfect the product.
Although the idea for your visionary business product might hit you on the drive to work, bringing the idea to fruition follows a disciplined and elaborate process that tries to maximize the chance for success. A typical product development process includes the following stages.
If you understand product development, understanding software product development is a cakewalk. It is the process of designing, developing, and deploying a ‘software product.’
When companies create a software product, development is typically outsourced to an IT company. This firm plays the role of a manufacturer that simply receives the specifications and develops the product in line with these specifications.
This process follows a distinct workflow of its own and consists of the following phases.
The above discussion makes it abundantly clear that software product development is only one of the types of product development. Product development, a broader discipline, is followed to develop any new product across industries like manufacturing, automobiles, services, and more.
When the same company envisions a software product and undertakes the implementation with in-house resources, the lines are blurred between the processes of product development and software product development.
In most cases, however, software product development is outsourced. Here, software development becomes a stage within product development and is handled by the software services provider. Understanding these differences is vital to clear communication and collaboration across teams and businesses. Software companies can serve their clients better if they work together with the product development teams of their clients.
Even companies that handle software development in-house can build better products through close collaboration among product managers, project managers, and developers. A nuanced understanding of these terminologies is thus crucial to success.
At Cloudesign, our cross-functional teams not only work closely with the client, but they also go the extra mile to understand the product and the client’s processes. This approach helps us assist our clients with technology insights best suited to their needs. Work with us for a seamless software product development experience now.
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