The Product Owner is the sole person accountable for managing the Product Backlog and ensuring the value of the work the Scrum Team performs. The Product Owner is one person, not a committee. The Product Owner may represent the desires of a committee in the Product Backlog, but those wanting to change a Product Backlog item’s priority must address the Product Owner1. The Product Owner is responsible for the product and its outcome2.
A product is a vehicle to deliver value. It has a clear boundary, known stakeholders, well-defined users or customers. A product could be a physical product, a software product, a service, a project, or something else3. A product has a product vision, which is the overarching goal of the product, the reason for creating it, and the impact it should have on its customers and users4.
A portfolio is a collection of products or projects that are aligned with a strategic goal or an organizational unit5. A program is a group of related projects or products that are managed in a coordinated way to obtain benefits and control not available from managing them individually. A portfolio or a program may have a portfolio or program manager, who is responsible for overseeing the alignment, prioritization, and governance of the portfolio or program . However, these roles are not equivalent to the Product Owner role, as they do not have the same accountabilities and authorities as the Product Owner.
Therefore, the correct answer is that a Product Owner is needed for every product, not for every portfolio or program. References: 1: Scrum Guide 2: Understanding and Applying the Scrum Framework 3: Managing Products with Agility 4: [Product Vision] 5: [Portfolio] : [Program] : [Portfolio Management] : [Program Management]
