Like sales and marketing departments, product development teams need up-to-date information to do their jobs. Product development applications often center on project management, with team members updating project schedules and sharing information about the progress of development or customer feedback. Of course, access to the sensitive information in these applications is restricted to team members. The types of information made accessible through web applications may include:
Transaction-type applications allow team members to request or submit
specific information. For example, a web-client and server application
used in conjunction with a database can be used to log and query
product test results. Team members could also use web applications to
submit a request to patent a recent development, sending the
appropriate forms and information directly to the corporate legal
department.
Community applications facilitate the discussions and exchange of ideas
that are such a critical part of product development, such as threads
focusing on:
Expertise on specific issues in product development.
A forum for brainstorming new ideas and critiquing proposed approaches.
Customer issues feedback to product development from sales, marketing, and customer service.