Maybe you read my post from a few weeks ago on a system of record for product management, and agree that not only does product management need one but there are no tools that provide one. What should you do? Can you “cobble together” an interim system of record solution, and should you?

A central system of record for product management provides three main benefits:

• There’s a single source of truth instead of multiple copies of the truth, of which most do not agree
• The information is an enterprise asset by virtue of being centrally accessible
• It reduces duplication of work since people can now find desired information in the repository rather than searching for it, or worse, recreating it.

Let’s start with the first goal—everything in its place; no duplication. How might we do that for all the artifacts that product managers create, such as interview notes, feature specifications, release descriptions and value propositions? You’ll need a database that supports documents and attachments as this becomes the well-known location for everything that product management produces. It’s very much like a wiki.

What about the other big piece of the system of record—the relationships between these items? For example, which customer needs drove which features. Luckily, a wiki can support this too, via linking.

Software companies of all sizes are relying on acquisitions to fuel growth as opposed to relying on organic growth. Consequently, product managers and product team leaders are being tasked with the role of product portfolio integrator. These teams must be mindful—even vigilant—about their existing product portfolio gaps since acquired products or companies rarely fit perfectly into the existing portfolio.

As these companies continue to rely on acquisitions to address increased growth demand and product gaps, product managers and team leaders must move the portfolio management and integration activities from an afterthought to on-going product management hygiene.

These days when I talk to product managers and product team leaders about their product strategy, a growing number of them understand that the principle engine for their sustained product growth and the most expedient way they will close gaps in the portfolio comes through an acquisition.