Facing the challenges of managing over twenty live products, SaaSJet has restructured its product management team to increase focus on high-performing products and accelerate innovation through a dedicated R&D department.
- Separate teams now handle product focus and new idea development.
- Unprofitable products are phased out to free resources.
- Dedicated UX designers assigned to high-performing products.
What happened
SaaSJet recently examined its product management approach amidst the demands of supporting a broad portfolio on the Atlassian Marketplace. They discovered that managing over twenty products, many in maintenance mode with low customer usage, drained team resources without sufficient returns. This led to a recognition that their product teams were stretched thin, combining product maintenance, marketing, exploration, and research into single groups.
In response, SaaSJet restructured by splitting successful product lines into focused teams, discontinuing underperforming products, and creating a new research and development department. This new R&D function is tasked with incubating new ideas and rapidly prototyping potential products to later integrate into existing product lines.
Why it matters
The restructuring addresses common challenges faced by maturing SaaS companies: balancing the demands of supporting legacy products against investing in future growth. By reallocating resources from low-impact maintenance to focused innovation, SaaSJet aims to improve operational efficiency and accelerate product delivery.
Moreover, assigning dedicated UX designers to successful products ensures better user experience and design consistency, which are crucial for customer satisfaction and competitive differentiation in the Atlassian Marketplace. This strategic focus aligns with SaaSJet’s goals to drive stronger product-market fit and scale faster.
What to watch next
The impact of the new product team structure will be seen in how quickly SaaSJet can release new products and scale existing ones, as well as its ability to retire legacy apps without disrupting customers. Observers should track the performance trajectory of the separated product lines and the output of the newly formed R&D department.
Additionally, SaaSJet’s approach could serve as a model for other SaaS companies operating in marketplaces, illustrating how focused team specialization and disciplined product portfolio management can unlock innovation and sustainable growth.