hosting con 2009 navi site launch products like a pro final
DESCRIPTION
Product Management & Hosting IndustryTRANSCRIPT
Launch Your Product like a Pro
William Toll (Director, SMB- Product Management & Marketing) [email protected] – Twitter:@NaviSiteHosts
Sumeet Sabharwal (SVP, SMB Hosting)[email protected]
NaviSite, Inc.
Bio
William Toll – Director, SMB - Product Management & Marketing. Held Product/Marketing positions in hosting since 1999 – ValueWeb, Verio, Affinity, Intermedia.net, NaviSite
Sumeet Sabharwal – SVP, SMB Hosting. Responsible for managing NaviSite SMB Hosting business. Working in the services and hosting industry for the last 15 years.
NaviSite, Inc.
NaviSite, Inc.• Public (NASDQ: NAVI) Hosted IT Provider• 650+ Employees• 16 Data Centers• 2008 Revenue: $154.6M
Enterprise Hosting
Fully customizable managed hosting, application hosting, application development and
management.
SMB Hosting
Managed Hosting Services including Managed Dedicated Servers, Virtual
Dedicated Servers and Hosted Exchange/SharePoint.
NaviSite, Inc.
Overview
• Why do we launch new products?• What new products should we launch?• How do we launch new products?• What does Product Management &
Development mean in 2009?• How do we measure success?
NaviSite, Inc.
Why do we launch new products?
Customer Requests?Employee Requests?
Vendor Upgrades?Competitive Alignment?
Innovation Leadership?
Increase Profits?
Lower Churn?
Because, we do?
Enhance Existing Products
NaviSite, Inc.
Does your hosting company have any of these concepts and
documents?Concept Documents
Road Map
Full Business CaseBasic Business Case
Project Charter
Product Requirements Documents
Project Communications Plan
Development Spec Documents
QA Test Cases
Issue Log
Community Evangelist Plan
Training Documents
Quality Management Plan
Marketing Plan
Scope Change Requests
Project Board
Architecture Diagram
RFPs
SWOT Diagrams
NaviSite, Inc.
Hosting Industry New Product Launch Examples
Driver
• Customer Requests
• Vendor Upgrades
• Maintain Innovative Leadership
• “Because we do”
Example• One-Click Blog Software,
SAN/NAS Storage Options• Parallels Plesk Panel Updates or
new Intel CPUs
• Cloud Computing Platform or SSD disk options
• Super fantastic shared hosting cluster
NaviSite, Inc.
Example #1: Success - DIY, WYSIWYG
In 1999 and 2000 the Shared Web Hosting space was dominated by Verio, ValueWeb, Interland, Pipex, and several hundred smaller companies. Shared Hosting offerings were marketed based on price and specs – somewhat like they are today – except that the average MRR was $19.95 to $49.95. The primary buyer was a Web designer, advertising agency or HTML expert.
Customer Request Easier to use, SMB DIY
Employee Request Easier to support, SMB DIY
Market Leadership Easy to use web design software, SMB DIY
Reduce Churn Provide Value, SMB DIY
NaviSite, Inc.
Example #1: SuccessWebsite Design Software
• Customers were happy• Employees(support) were happy• Greatly reduced churn• Required new marketing channels• Higher sales – from larger market• The first successful CMS and Blogging Platforms?
Bundle Adobe GoLive, Trellix WYSIWYG software. The market was changing from early adopter (techie) to the mass market. Later CM AG, SiteGalore, Parallels joined this market – just as CMS platforms were taking off.
NaviSite, Inc.
• Priorities? (Low priority poorly supported project)• Internal Management Agreement? (50%/50%)• Which Vendor? (Few to choose from)• Contracts? (New concepts for hosting provider and vendor)• Price & Packaging? (Free! – Bundle with higher plans)• Distribution/Integration? (Welcome Kit – Snail Mail)• Sales Training? (New Target – New Customers)• Support Training? (New Target – New Customers)• Marketing? (New Target – New Customers)
Example #1 Hurdles to Jump Before Launch back in 2000
NaviSite, Inc.
Results in the hosting industry?
– Slow– Inefficient– Rigid
Traditional Product Development
NaviSite, Inc.
Example #2:Failure Clustered Shared HostingIn 2004 shared Web hosting was now mainstream and several giant customer
bases were in place at companies like Verio, Affinity, 1&1, GoDaddy, Interland. Several providers believed that a path to profitable success was to build a monolitic clustered shared hosting platform that would meet the need for both growth and operational stability. Several platforms never launched and others died early.
Customer Request Not met – did not support growing requests for PHP, .NET, expanded one-click installs
Employee Request Not met – complicated for operations, frustration for support.
Market Leadership Failure – simpler players grew faster – Lunar Pages, HostGator, iPower, Dream Host
Reduce Churn Increased Churn! – applications were not supported. Widespread downtime.
NaviSite, Inc.
Example #2:Why Was Clustered Shared Hosting a Failure?
• Most of these platforms had little to do with customer needs – they were more engineering castles
• Most platforms launched late in the growth cycle of shared hosting
• These platforms were extremely expensive to build and provided only incremental reliability and cost savings
• Competitors won the game by investing in applications, ease of use and market/channel development
NaviSite, Inc.
Product Management & Development Then & Now
• 1960’s to 1999: Product Management Rigid Controls Principles include: Stage-Gate® , Development Waterfalls, ISO Processes– Traditional method used by several hosting companies – many of
which were former leaders. Still relevant for traditional products and services outside of hosting.
• 2000 to Today: Product Management 2.0 – Permanent Betas, Iterative Releases– Current methodology enabling early and rapid momentum and
implementing continuous feedback – used by today’s leading hosting providers.
NaviSite, Inc.
The PM 2.0 Road Map • It’s OK to keep a long list of
products/services/features/enhancements• Prioritize regularly – don’t be afraid to de-prioritize
or cancel• Keep an open list – solicit feedback regularly –
customers, vendors, employees• Add a view which includes competitors & outside
forces (regulations, OS releases)• Allow “jumping” – moving on new opportunities
NaviSite, Inc.
PM 2.0 Prioritization & Business Case
• Solicit feedback from all internal teams – can they build/integrate/support/operate/ sell it?
• Select your vendor carefully on multiple points – be honest in your assessment
• Will the product meet business goals: new sales, profitability, competitive alignment, churn reduction, company value?
• Measure what you can: current costs for existing products, development costs, operational costs, marketing costs.
NaviSite, Inc.
PM 2.0 Development & Integration
• Encourage creativity from technical teams• Maintain feature list prioritize based on effort,
time to market, benefits• Integrate/Build on 3rd party options - depend
on vendors• Start early betas• Avoid analysis paralysis
NaviSite, Inc.
PM 2.0 Launch Steps
• Launch early – previews, betas, pilots• Market early – engage the community, build
the buzz• Train sales, solicit feedback, modify message• Listen to market and community reaction,
adjust accordingly• Continue development and launch cycles
NaviSite, Inc.
PM 2.0 Measuring Success
• Monitor buzz – is the community reacting?• Are sales/upgrades meeting expectations?• Customer, employee satisfaction?• Is churn lower?• Is the marketing mix right – are you getting
the right prospects, customers to convert?• Are existing customers adopting?
NaviSite, Inc.
PM 2.0 Reacting to Failure
• Cancel non-strategic non-performing products early
• Modify product and marketing quickly• Review the Road Map and fill gaps with high-
priority launches• Review feasibility and assumptions for other
projects
NaviSite, Inc.
Example #3: Successful Focused Hosters
From 2002 to 2007 several smaller hosting and application specific niche providers (Shared, VPS, Dedicated) outpaced their peers by focusing on a specific market segment: .NET Hosting, PHP Hosting, Blog Hosting, eCommerce hosting, Exchange hosting.
Customer Request Exceeded
Innovation Focused, and paced with customer & vendors needs and capabilities
Increase Profits Lower Marketing & Operational Costs
Reduce Churn Unique, fully functional offering is difficult to leave.
NaviSite, Inc.
Please Complete Survey!
Session Track: Marketing & SalesSession Title: Launch Products Like A Pro
William Toll (Director, SMB- Product Management & Marketing) [email protected] – Twitter:@NaviSiteHosts
Sumeet Sabharwal (SVP, SMB Hosting)[email protected]
NaviSite, Inc.