According to the Agile Practice Guide and the Standard for Portfolio Management, establishing a product roadmap in an adaptive environment is a strategic activity that requires alignment across different levels of the organization ' s hierarchy.
Project Sponsor (A): The sponsor provides the vision and the funding for the project. In an adaptive environment, they are essential for ensuring the roadmap aligns with the business case and that the high-level milestones provide the expected return on investment (ROI).
Portfolio Manager (B): The portfolio manager ensures that the product roadmap is aligned with the organization ' s strategic objectives and that it does not conflict with other initiatives within the portfolio. They provide the " big picture " context needed to prioritize the roadmap ' s themes.
Program Manager (D): The program manager coordinates the dependencies between different projects or components that contribute to the product. They are instrumental in mapping out the timeline and ensuring that the roadmap is realistic given the shared resources and interdependencies across the program.
Analysis of other options:
End user (C): While the end user is critical for providing feedback and helping refine User Stories or the Product Backlog, they are typically not involved in " establishing " the high-level strategic roadmap. Their needs are represented by the Product Owner or Business Analyst.
Internal inspector (E): This role is focused on compliance and quality control. While they may review the results of the work, they do not participate in the strategic planning or the drafting of the product roadmap.
Per PMI standards, the product roadmap serves as a high-level visual summary that maps out the vision and direction of the product offering over time. It requires the collaboration of the Sponsor, Portfolio Manager, and Program Manager to ensure financial, strategic, and operational alignment.
