20% delayed product launches fail to meet targets

Only 55 per cent of product launches take place on schedule and of the 45 per cent delayed ones, 20 per cent fail to meet their internal targets.

According to the 2019 Gartner Inc product manager survey, released on Monday, product managers who follow the launch schedule are more likely to meet their internal targets within a year.

"A product launch that meets all internal targets is seldom achieved. The survey showed that only 11 per cent of organisations reported that all their products met 100 per cent of defined internal launch targets," Adrian Lee, Senior Research Director at Gartner, said in a statement.

Product managers who run late with product launches must know that it would increase the risk of failure, Lee added.

Product managers largely see themselves as responsible for managing the launch and creating the strategy around products.

Around 46 per cent product managers said they were responsible for planning, development and introduction phases of a product, 39 per cent of respondents said creating a product strategy, planning and building product roadmaps were their key responsibilities.

"The product manager role is one of the most cross-functional in the organisation. This is especially true at the product introduction phase when other functions, such as marketing, sales, sales enablement and finance, come into play," said Stephanie Baghdassarian, Senior Research Director at Gartner.

Product managers seeking to collaborate to drive business must communicate their product vision and roadmap to all stakeholders in the company. This should happen early on and repeatedly in the product life-cycle to allow for possible revisions based on feedback from stakeholders.

( With inputs from IANS )