{"id":1643,"date":"2017-01-07T07:54:36","date_gmt":"2017-01-07T15:54:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/addison.lwh.dev\/insights\/technical-program-managers-innovate-lead-and-solve-complex-and-interdependent-technology-problems\/"},"modified":"2017-01-07T07:54:36","modified_gmt":"2017-01-07T15:54:36","slug":"technical-program-managers-innovate-lead-and-solve-complex-and-interdependent-technology-problems","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/addisongroup.com\/insights\/technical-program-managers-innovate-lead-and-solve-complex-and-interdependent-technology-problems\/","title":{"rendered":"What Technical Program Managers Do"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Contributed by AIM Consulting<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Benjamin Franklin wrote in 1789 that nothing is certain except death and taxes. Another certainty today for modern enterprises is that technical complexity is always increasing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The days when a \u201clarge IT project\u201d effectively meant \u201centerprise-wide\n system installation\u201d are long gone. Businesses today deploy large scale\n systems using services and micro services throughout their \norganizations. With systems being woven together in a complex tapestry, \ntechnology projects and initiatives demand incredibly precise \ncoordination, especially to make large scale changes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fortunately, the Technical Program Manager (TPM) role has evolved to \nmeet this need. TPMs combine superb technical skills with \nprogram\/project\/process management skills to dig into thorny, critical \nissues and lead teams to solve large and complex technical problems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

TPMs are particularly useful when technical requirements for a \nproject come from many teams, divisions, and applications with multiple \ndependencies. As service dependencies grow more commonplace with \nenterprise applications, more collaboration between teams is required to\n get things done.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The role of TPM is standard at some companies, particularly ones \nwhere large SOA applications support the core business; indeed, some \nsuch companies have an entire team (or teams) of TPMs. However, many \ncompanies do not have this luxury.  There are also occasionally projects\n where internal resources cannot be spared or where specific expertise \nnot commonly found in the company is needed. In these cases, bringing in\n an external TPM consultant can be a major boon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ideal Qualities of a TPM<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The primary skill every solid TPM must have is the ability to dive \ndeep to understand a supported technical stack and unite stakeholders \nand dependencies on tasks required to make changes to systems that meet \nbusiness requirements and are performant and scalable. To do this well, \nTPMs typically have a software development background as well as a \nproject management background.  They are leaders with experience \npresenting to executives and managing disparate teams and will have \nworked within different types of organizations and verticals. This \nexperience allows a TPM to bring a diverse toolkit into any organization\n and solve very difficult problems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A superb TPM will have characteristics in three key areas:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Technical Depth<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n