Cambridge, MA – September 9, 2009 – A new research study released by MIDIOR Consulting identifies key areas for improvement in the practice of product management in the financial services industry. Findings indicate that, unlike the consumer goods sector where product management can be considered a well-practiced discipline, there are many opportunities to improve the processes and skill sets for financial services organizations.

According to Susan Penta, Partner and Co-Founder at MIDIOR, “Effective product management is the key to aligning IT investment with concrete business outcomes and for that reason we were interested in understanding how product management organizations are performing. In today’s economic climate, the most resilient financial services firms are those that excel at product management. These firms are close to their customers, have a granular understanding of their products and can quickly tune their offerings to changes in the marketplace.”

Participants in this study were senior executives with global responsibility for product management in the banking and capital markets sectors. Study results reveal that awareness of the critical impact that skilled product management organizations can have on revenue and profits is growing, however skill sets to perform the function effectively are still evolving. Some of the key findings indicate that:

Individual product managers are perceived as key contributors yet the process of product management is not well understood.

Product managers spend the majority of time on maintenance and financial management of existing products and services resulting in a lack of focus on new product initiatives.

Individual product managers are perceived as key contributors yet the process of product management is not well understood.

Product managers spend the majority of time on maintenance and financial management of existing products and services resulting in a lack of focus on new product initiatives.

A webinar to highlight the results of the study is scheduled for September 17 at 3:00 - 4:00 EST. For a copy of the study “The Current State of Product Management in Financial Services”, contact MIDIOR at info@midior.com.