Product Ops; the Key Differentiator
Are you looking to build a high-performing product organisation? Product Ops could be the difference between you and your competitors.
Product Ops has been growing rapidly in popularity over the last few years. After it was first mentioned in
’s 2018 book ‘Escaping the Build Trap’ it has been explored further in the follow-up book, co-authored with Denise Tilles, ‘Product Operations’ which was published in 2023.After a number of years in management and product consulting I entered the world of Product Ops at Farfetch in 2019, when the term was still relatively new, especially in Europe. Since then, I’ve led Product Ops at Bumble and gone on to found my own consultancy with a focus on the discipline.
Along the way, I’ve had hundreds of conversations with product leaders and teams about what Product Ops really is, what it isn’t and the value and impact it can have at a product organisation that is looking to become high-performing.
This post brings together, for the first time, my perspective on Product Ops and why its critical to the future success of all product organisations.
So, what is Product Ops?
Product Ops is an enabling function with the aim of increasing the quality of decision making across the product development lifecycle. As a function it exists to help organisations and teams make better decisions, those that are evidence-based, data-informed, strategically aligned, and customer-focused.
Achieved through defining strong operational foundations tailored to organisational context (whether B2B, B2C, or SaaS), equipping teams with the right data at the right time, and by embedding standardised, scalable and repeatable practices.
High-performing Product Ops teams act as an expert internal consulting layer. Driving clarity, consistency, and alignment across teams. With the right tools, practices, and principles in place, it enables product organisations to move faster, learn continuously, and deliver greater business impact with less friction.
What is the difference between ‘product operations’ and Product Ops?
Product operations refers to the work involved in enabling and improving how a product organisation functions. How teams are structured, how decisions are made, how information is shared, and how processes are operated. Every company building products is already doing some level of product operations, whether they realise it or not.
Product Ops, on the other hand, is the dedicated function responsible for owning and optimising that operational work. By centralising this expertise, Product Ops allows product leaders and teams to focus on their core responsibilities; delivering customer value and driving business impact. While ensuring the organisation is set up to operate effectively, consistently, and strategically.
How does Product Ops interface with leadership and governance?
Product Ops serves as a strategic partner to product leadership, focusing on enhancing the operational aspects of product development to enable better decision-making and alignment with business objectives. Rather than acting as a support function, Product Ops collaborates closely with leadership to optimise processes, facilitate communication, and ensure that product teams are empowered to deliver customer value effectively. 
In terms of governance, Product Ops plays a pivotal role in establishing frameworks that promote consistency and clarity across the product organisation. This includes standardising practices, managing tools and data, and ensuring that the product strategy aligns with overall business goals. By doing so, Product Ops helps maintain a balance between autonomy and accountability within product teams, building an environment where informed decisions can be made efficiently.
How does Product Ops support product teams day-to-day?
Product Ops acts as an internal consultancy, ensuring product teams have the tools, data, and operational clarity they need. This includes establishing standardised and scalable and practices, creating repeatable processes, providing access to actionable data, and embedding clear operating principles. The goal is to remove friction so teams can focus on delivering value to customers.
What’s the difference between Product Ops in B2B, B2C or SaaS environments?
While the core purpose of Product Ops is consistent across environments (enabling better decision-making) the operational needs can differ. In B2B organisations, Product Ops may focus more on integrating customer feedback into strategic planning practices, while in B2C, building experimental mindsets with insights driven from user data may be more critical. SaaS products often require tight alignment across GTM (Go-To-Market), customer success, and product teams, which Product Ops helps facilitate.
How does Product Ops ensure decisions are data-informed and evidence-based?
Product Ops ensures that reliable and relevant data is available at the right time and in the right context to drive insights that inform product decisions. This includes defining key metrics, creating and maintaining dashboards, standardising tooling, and building a culture of experimentation. By operationalising access to data and building customer feedback loops, Product Ops helps teams make more confident and strategically aligned decisions.
What kind of impact can a Product Ops function have on a company?
Product Ops is be focused on enabling the product organisation and its teams to understand and deliver customer value and achieve business impact. A high-performing Product Ops team can dramatically improve alignment, time to value and overall product quality. It creates clarity around how decisions are made, increases team efficiency through standardisation and ensures that strategic priorities are at the core of all product development work.
Could Product Ops be Your differentiator?
Are you looking to build a high-performing product organisation? Product Ops could be the difference between you and your competitors.
I partner closely with senior leaders navigating complexity and scale to embed the systems, behaviours, and structures that enable high-impact product organisations to thrive.
Setting the Foundations - Establish the core systems, data, tools, and practices needed to enable high-quality, scalable decision-making
Building and Leading a Team - Design, hire, and coach a high-performing Product Ops function tailored to your organisation’s structure and goals
Guidance for Leadership Success - Ongoing support to help senior leaders leverage Product Ops for alignment, performance, and strategic execution
Visit chriscompston.com/productops to find out more