Think beyond just the product's features, its technology base and its performance. What are the various infrastructures required to support the product throughout its life cycle and how will they interact with each other to change the product picture?

Such infrastructures are those that support the development, financing, production, sales/marketing, shipping and support.

Following are a few examples of how product infrastructure(s) may interact with other product mentors to affect your product's definition:

• Business infrastructure examples: Advisors and Directors (who provide wisdom and experience), Industry associations (which provide specific market directions) and competitors (who also drive market direction). These can affect Product Market (help in choosing the lucrative ones), Product Utilization (selection of appropriate features, designs), Business Model (where to manufacture, how to price) and even the Spirituality (help keep the faith during stressful periods).
  
  
• Communications infrastructure within the product environment: i.e., financial, management, customer, maintenance / support people, production group - good and bad communication between any of these groups can influence Product Utilization (arrive at list of appropriate product features), Product Market (proper approach to sales channels) and Business Model (adequate funding and cost control).
  
  
• Backend infrastructure (if Internet-based) - influences such as data management and security capability, support funding, and maintenance can affect Product Utilization (installation of proper security and application software), Product Market (degree of periodic maintenance) and Business Model (online ads, agreements with supporting vendors).
  
  
• Supporting applications Infrastructure - such as system capability, ability to upgrade, scaling of technology, etc. can influence Product Utilization (customization vs. one-size-fits-all, range of software applications, scalability of applications), Business Model (business arrangements with supporting vendors) and customer Spirituality (faith in the product and manufacturer).
  
  
• Service Infrastructure - influences just about every facet of the post-sale product: Product Utilization (plug-and-play ports for product testing by third parties), Business Model (online support, local repair facilities, warranty structure), 3rd Party Encumbrances (reuse and recycling at product end-of-life, use of 'green' consumables) and Spirituality (belief that the product and company are 'good').

A case in point for the critical nature of product infrastructures in today's' technological marketplace is Apple's MP3 player, the iPod. There were similar products in the market quite a while before the iPod appeared. So why did Apple succeed where the other MP3 player vendors did not? Well, the iPod's success goes far beyond the feature-set, ease-of-use and look of the product. It had to do with the business agreements, restrictions and standards achieved between Apple and the entertainment groups, the media distribution groups and Apple's supporting infrastructure. Examples are Apple's supporting applications on the iPod, in the MAC, in Apple stores, on media-based websites, the financial structures, access to the consumables (entertainment), etc. A well conceived, implemented and supported Infrastructure made the iPod succeed where the other similar products did not. This infrastructure, however, also placed huge up-front dependencies upon the iPod design and all of it's supporting technologies.