The software industry, and the high technology industry in general, is so young that sometimes everything about it seems to be brand new. It’s a whole new world filled with new products that deal with unfamiliar concepts. For example, Customer Relationship Management (CRM) is already “old hat” when it’s a term that was unknown ten years ago.

The urge to be new and improved means that some classic product categories reappear dressed in new garb. It used to be that you created reports (even printed them out in hardcopy!). Nowadays you implement a Decision Support System instead. It’s the same thing.

Taking a step back and using a Product Management perspective to look at the constant stream of new software products, it becomes apparent that while every company wants their product to be brand spanking new, there are two very distinct strains of newness: the Missionary and the Savior. And one of those two types is a much harder sell.

Is your product a Missionary or a Savior, and what does that mean for your business model? Is one easier than the other? How does this change the role of the Product Manager? Read on below for a discussion of two very different types of product.