The PSPO course teaches students how to be an Agile program, product or IT development manager in a complex environment. Traditional Scrum courses take a myopic view of the Product Owner role, ignoring large aspects of product management. This course looks at the creation and retention of value much more broadly than traditional Scrum courses. Through this lens, the course then teaches students specific tactics and strategies for maximizing the flexibility and responsiveness of software product creation.

Organizations need to be "Agile;" it is no longer an option. They must be able to deliver new or enhanced products and systems as dictated by customers, competition, and business pressures. As the environment they operate within changes, they need to be flexible while adhering to their purpose. As they flex, they need to be both predictable and efficient, while controlling risks. If Product Management were simple, there would be no need for this course. However, product managers are responsible for juggling competing priorities of customers, the marketplace, and their business, while at the same time managing risk within a state of constant change. Additionally product managers must organize and prioritize the competing needs and interests of their own company, from systems architecture to financial performance and strategic alignment. These responsibilities are very difficult in large, global organizations that develop and market interrelated products and product families. But they are also difficult in smaller companies whose customers require continuous improvement in real-time.

This course teaches techniques for fulfilling the above responsibilities. In the course, we address how to optimize the value of current systems. Students learn how to progressively order requirements and work to become more Agile. The goal will be releasing products as fast as needed and no faster than customers can absorb. The steps to reach this end point will be addressed in detail.