Co-operation and finding synergy in product management Longyearbyen, 6 April 2005 Walter van DijkPekka Linna SURFnet, the NetherlandsCSC, Finland

2 Agenda Introduction –What is product management in an NREN context –Ratio for co-operation between the NRENs –On-going co-operation; history and plans Discussion –Participants views –Cases –Discussion Conclusions and closing

3 Product management in an NREN context: decisions about the service portfolio What are the services delivered to the customer, i.e. what is the service portfolio What is being promised to the customer, i.e. what are the service definitions and service level agreements What are the terms and conditions of the service delivery and how are the costs being covered, i.e. what are the business models

4 Product management in an NREN context: life-cycle and production strategies When to open up a new service for the customers at large, when to shut down a service, i.e. how to manage the life-cycle of a service Are the services produced and managed in- house or are they out-sourced, i.e. what are the choices in production strategies

5 Lifecycle from an NREN perspective Conduct Feasibility Study Customer notice of change in in portfolio Clearance for new service Phasing out of service Turn-off service Service- development Operational service Service phased out Technology Assessment Technology- developments Customer requirements Life- Cycle

6 Why co-operation? A pressure towards richer and more aligned portfolios Average NREN customer-base (universities and research-institutions) is becoming more critical towards the NREN service portfolio Logical development now that: - (high-speed) connectivity and associated services are “mission-critical” for a growing number of users and/or - commercial ISP’s are closing the gap (financial, technological, services) with NREN’s Hence: NREN service portfolio should align with existing and future customer requirements!

7 Why co-operation? Product management is a challenge Traditionally the services of NRENs have been technological innovation driven, hence there is a need for the exchange of best practices for introducing and promoting services Future user requirements are not easily discovered by market-research Technology reviews are resource consuming but necessary, hence the need to look for synergies and labour division

8 Why co-operation? Potential synergies in production Co-operation in new service development (e.g. anti-spam service) may bring about some short-cuts in time and costs Co-operation in purchasing services (e.g. Usenet News) gives a competitive edge that should not be lost by the NRENs Co-operation in production may help NRENs to provide a wider range of services to their customers

9 History of the interaction and future plans History and plans in 2005: -BoF meeting at TNC2004 in Rhodes - open discussion on many topics - mailing list -BoF meeting at Nordunet2005 -BoF meeting at TNC2005 in Poznan -Track on product management at TNC2005 -A workshop in Q Request for TERENA Taskforce?

10 Potential topics for future co- operation Exchange of ideas and best practices - introducing new services (cook-book?) - marketing of slowly adopted services (multicast) - discontinuing services (cook-book?) - procedures for lifecycle- and portfolio management Co-operation in service production - copying successful services (anti-spam?) - co-management of existing services (Listserv?) - co-buying of new or improved services (News?)

11 Other potential issues Tariff models used within NREN’s Service Level Agreements Best practices for account management and/or customer service Common language for new service development Which services should be run “in-house” and which can be subcontracted to third parties or acquired on a commercial basis? Cooperation in writing white-papers, user guides, training etc. Role NREN versus role commercial ISP’s (competitors, partners, customers, suppliers?)

12 Ways for interaction in the future (BoF) sessions at TNC and other networking conferences Mailing list for ad hoc questions (”How do you do this in your NREN …”) List of contact people in different NRENs at the Terena website for direct contacts Service Level Agreements, portfolio- strategies, product management models at the Terena website Workshops on specific topics for interested NRENs

13 To be continued: at TNC2005 Sunday 5 June 9.00 – hrs: BoF-session on LCPM Wednesday 8 June – hrs: Session on services that NREN’s should provide