Lean Product Management

The cost of a digital solution

We get to this step only if we have established whether a feature is a differentiator or an enabler, but with no options or suboptimal options, for ready-made solutions. We need to assess if we can build this functionality in the time frame that we have (refer to Chapter 6, Managing the Scope of an Impact-Drive Product).

This will help us to arrive at the costs that include (but are not limited to) the following:

• The development cost (time and people)
• Resources (software, assets, and hardware)
• Hosting
• Support and maintenance
• Training

Now we can drill down to the specifics of cost numbers. A quick-and-dirty solution might require higher maintenance. Compromise on user experience might require higher training investment. ...