PHASE 9: SUNSETTING AND PRODUCT MIGRATION
Retire products that have reached the end of their product life
Products in the portfolio are no longer producing desired margins or are losing money. This occurs because of newer versions of products being developed on new platforms or with a new technology, or they are no longer seen as a solution to solve a market problem. The challenge is how to sunset the product or migrate to a new platform without alienating customers and in turn losing revenue or market share. Developing the right migration strategy will not only protect this revenue and market share, but will also be the platform to expand the presence within these same customers.
Rapid Diagnostic
1. Using a research-based approach, a methodology exists to sunset products at the appropriate time.
2. You monitor the market for trends or regulations that may make products obsolete.
3. Your more mature products continue to maintain healthy margins with no consistent decline.
4. You do NOT have multiple versions of the same product in the market differentiated only by minor features or user interface.
5. You have change management including a customer communication plan that informs customers of products that will no longer be supported.
6. You have a sunsetting methodology with a cadence that allows customers to react in advance to products no longer being supported.
7. Using a research-based approach, you understand your customer base and their comfort level with platform changes that allows you to migrate products to new platforms with minimal customer attrition.
8. You monitor the competition for gaps or competitive advantages being gained by using different platforms.
9. A RACI exists across all teams to manage customer expectations for sunsetting or migration plans.
10. Using data-driven models, you have a financial justification model for sunsetting or migrating products.
Deliverables
• Financial Justification Model
• Sunsetting Methodology
• Migration Methodology
• Customer Communication Plan
• RACI
