Product Management tool vs Project Management tool - What are the differences?

It's common for people to conflate project management tools and product management platforms as the titles are similar and are sometimes used interchangeably. Although both the tools work on similar technology for addressing business needs, the vital functions of each are entirely different.

Product Management Platforms inform product managers on how to develop, position, and maintain a curated product strategy for the company. Whereas a Project Management Tool helps teams track progress and organize tasks across both time and resources - making it immensely useful for the team members who need to stay organized (mainly if your company uses multiple resources for a single project).

We need to first understand who are the product managers and who are the project managers? 

Product Managers vs Project Managers 

Product managers and project managers work in similar fields; yet have completely different areas of concern. Although the projects or products that they manage are similar, their responsibilities are very diverse. 

Product managers may choose to work with project managers to complete tasks and meet established deadlines on various projects. 

For example, a product manager's responsibilities include marketing a product. In contrast, a project manager's duties include securing internal resources from their employer to complete the project successfully.

Product management software

Product Management Software helps product managers track high-level requirements, document the product vision, communicate product strategy, establish priorities and rough timeframes, and indicate high-level job estimates. These tools also help product managers be more effective communicators and provide timely updates on their product development.

Product managers use these tools to create visual, easy-to-understand roadmaps using templates specific to the task. 

Project Management Tool 

A project management tool is a tactical tool used to track and manage all of a project's details. At the basic level, one can think of project management as the systematic approach that one follows to get various types of projects accomplished.

If you're familiar with the concept of agile product management, then you'll be able to appreciate how it rolls out for the project managers. Project Management Tools are necessary for project managers to juggle product development and operations, project reporting, or even marketing activities (since these always occur during or after the initial planning stages).

Now let us know the differences between the two particular tools: 

Need for the Product Management Tools 

Now let's talk about why you need Product Management Tools?  

1. Product Management articulates customer value 

With the increasingly competitive market, the pressure to sell a product and generate revenue is rising. Making a product eye-catching and worth attention ultimately falls on the shoulders of a PM at a company. This responsibility propels teams to push aggressive sales even if it may be not in their best interest. 

With the help of good product management tools like Zeda.io, it becomes easier for the product manager to take a more sustainable approach and collaborate closely with sales and other departments to achieve the targets. 

2. Product management reduces the risk of product failure.

 Under the direction of project managers, product managers establish a business case that informs companies on how to make better decisions regarding project development. This business case is necessary to ensure making better business decisions by project managers. 

3. Product Management improves Product Lifecycle 

With the help of various Product Management Tools, the possibilities for Product Managers to streamline their processes are endless. With these tools, the product is processed under a well-defined and appropriate product life cycle managed by adept members of their teams.  

This approach improves both the time to market and revenue as it increases productivity and better resources are made available to products that drive revenue. 

Criteria for selecting Product Management Tools 

Selecting appropriate Product Management Tools according to the needs of the organization is essential for every product manager. When looking for the best tools to help you out in Product Management, there are various factors that you need to think about.   

1. User Interface: The application should look modern and have clean lines that make you feel at ease, instead of being a clutter of information all over the place.
2. Usability: Additionally, the software should offer an easy way to navigate through the information while having the ability to handle any challenges that may surface during your product development process. 
3. Integrations: An app that gives you additional features to integrate with other third-party applications to open additional features is a better tool for you. 
4. Features and Functionality: ‍
5. Task Management: The tools which can manage and organize product-specific tasks with navigation solutions are better for product managers. ‍
6. Roadmaps- Good product management tools carve out some space to keep functionality wishlists and brainstorming results.‍
7. Customer Feedback Aggregation: An ideal tool for every product manager is a tool that captures customer feedback through sources like email, support chat, and other CRM Integrations. 

Product Management Tools determine Product Success

Product Management Tool and Project Management Software have become an essential part of organizations. But, There's a lot of overlap between project and product management applications. For example, many of the best tools on this list offer modules to help with project management and product management processes. 

In many cases, you won't use different tools—you'll use a single tool where you'll find project management features like resourcing, scheduling, and reporting alongside product management features like road mapping, product boards, and product diagrams. In this case, you get team management applications, project management applications, and product lifecycle management tools bundled together or as separate modules that you can activate as you need them.