How do you decide when to sunset a product in your portfolio?

While there are plenty of market and company criteria for when to sunset the product (see all of the other posts), the biggest problem can be emotional, especially if you've been the Product Manager for the product for a long time. You may have created it, nurtured it and watched it grow. It's your baby. The second biggest problem is if one of your biggest customers is deeply vested in the product and they're a slow mover. They will ask you to extend the End-of-Life date time after time. Certainly you can make it progressively more expensive to say "Yes" to an extension, but at some point you just need to bite the bullet and move on. Shift your emotional investment and that of your customer to the next big thing that is even better.

Sunsetting is indeed a critical part of any product strategy and deserves a spot on the roadmap. It's natural for customers to prefer sticking with familiar products, often requesting endless new features and bug fixes. At some point, the product will no longer solve the problems that customers have. Case in point: in the 1980's, bag phones were targeted for people who needed a portable phone. Is it reasonable for customers to insist that Motorola upgrade the bag phone to handle the data, apps, and functions we expect to use today? Of course not. Why? The underlying technology reached it's limitations. By focusing on customer problems, it will become clear when a product can no longer deliver customer value in its current form.

Sunsetting is an often overlooked aspect of product management. Despite sunk costs and emotional attachment it's important to understand when to sunset a product in order to free attention and capacity for more relevant activities. Even if you are tempted to tell yourself it's "only maintenance" we all know that that's a lie and will likely cost you more than it's worth. Positive side-effects of sunsetting: - less tech & ux debt - less complexity for your team - likely also a clearer product for your users

Sunsetting is a strategic acknowledgment of market evolution. By phasing out a product, companies reaffirm their commitment to innovation and to servicing changing customer needs. It is a conscious choice to invest in progress and sustain brand vitality. Reflect on the Pragmatic Institute’s insights on valuing customer bases and competitive landscapes in this decision.

Sunsetting a product is a strategic decision that involves considering the long-term impact on your brand reputation, customer satisfaction, and product quality. It allows you to reallocate resources towards innovation and improvement, ensuring that your offerings remain competitive in a constantly evolving market landscape. By discontinuing outdated or underperforming products, you can streamline your portfolio and better focus on meeting the evolving needs of your customers. This proactive approach demonstrates your commitment to delivering value and maintaining a strong market position.

Sunsetting is equally important just like setting up , First and foremost is the revenue and budget analysis , utility analysis and finally the client feedback are the key factors to decide

Identify products for sunsetting by evaluating their lifecycle, market relevance, and alignment with your strategic vision. Consider both quantitative data like sales trends, support costs, customer feedback, and qualitative factors like brand fit and market direction.

Identify candidates for sunsetting by evaluating key metrics: Revenue and Profitability: Assess growth, costs, and contribution to the bottom line. Usage and Retention: Analyze user metrics, including frequency, duration, and retention rates. Feedback and Satisfaction: Gather user input and ratings and identify pain points. Market Fit and Demand: Examine alignment with the market, competitors, and demand. Innovation and Differentiation: Evaluate the product's role in supporting innovation and differentiation. This assessment helps pinpoint underperforming or less relevant products, guiding decisions on potential sunsetting.

Identifying Products for Sunsetting To decide when to sunset a product, look for key indicators: declining sales, diminishing returns on investment, or the product no longer aligns with your strategic vision. Analyze market trends, customer feedback, and competitive landscape to assess if the product still meets a market need. Products that require disproportionate resources for maintenance or don't fit future technology directions are prime candidates. This approach ensures decisions are data-driven, focusing your portfolio on areas with the highest growth potential.

One interesting way to do so is to measure relative engagement (i.e. MAU, DAU, usage in the last 5-7 days) in sight of the product strategy. Another inventive way is to use the adapted framework proposed by Superhuman's founder Rahul Vohra crafted to find PMF. For that, ask your users how they’d feel if they could no longer use your product. That will hopefully give you a sense on how important is the products within your portfolio and help you make the proper decisions. Needless to say --> it is important "courage".

Prioritization should be data-driven, considering factors like financial impact, customer dependency, and strategic fit. Analyze the trade-offs between maintaining the status quo versus the innovation potential unlocked by resource reallocation.

To prioritize candidates for sunsetting, use a matrix plotting each product based on customer value and team effort. Focus on products in the low-value, high-effort quadrant, as they drain resources, distract focus, and disappoint users. By considering the impact and feasibility of sunsetting, you can streamline your product portfolio for better strategic alignment and resource optimization.

In my opinion, to assess whether a product is a candidate for sunset, we should be asking ourselves if the product fits within the current and overall company vision (this is also when the company's product roadmap is assessed). Based on that, we should then look at the product's demand and the market saturation. Based on the roadmap assessment, this is when one can define whether the product is waning relevance to customer needs or is lacking differentiation from the competitive landscape. Afterwards, operational areas need to be assessed for a product's candidacy to sunset: what are the costs of maintaining this product (i.e., support, supporting technology, manufacturing, etc.)?

Prioritize based on factors like the product's financial impact, strategic misalignment, and the potential to reallocate resources to more valuable initiatives. Consider the cost of maintaining versus sunsetting and the potential impact on users and stakeholders.

Priority setting for sunsetting candidates warrants a systematic approach based on various factors. Start by making a thorough evaluation of each product by calculating its breakeven point based on revenues and maintenance costs. Investigate the possible influence on customer satisfaction and loyalty to minimize the negative consequences for your customer base. Look at the product's position in the overall portfolio and ensure that the item is compatible with the organization's long-term targets. Use risk analysis tools and make sure to perform a detailed assessment to locate possible issues related to the sunsetting process.

Plan and execute sunsetting with: Communication: Inform stakeholders and address concerns transparently. Transition Period: Support customers with guidance and incentives for migration. Decommissioning: Ensure secure shutdown with legal compliance. Customer Support: Provide assistance, tutorials, and dedicated support channels. Legal and Compliance: Adhere to legal requirements and communicate changes. Measure Outcomes: Evaluate the impact on satisfaction, revenue, and brand reputation. Learn and Iterate: Reflect on the process to enhance future product management.

Successful execution requires meticulous planning, with a timeline that considers customer migration paths, communication strategies, and internal alignment. Strategic phasing out should minimize disruption and maintain customer trust.

Carefully define different stages for a sunset of a product or a service. There can be a difference between ‘end of sales’, ‘end of support’ and/or ‘end of service’. When sunsetting a product, this can be done in stages time wise. Defining these stages help to manage expectations.

Start with your customers. Know them well. Biggest mistake is sunsetting without considering where customers will go, helping them move across, providing an alternative product and communicating (early, timely, with understanding for their loss and describing their gain).

Outline a timeline for discontinuation and notify users well in advance. For instance, if sunsetting a mobile application, offer users a migration path to a newer, more feature-rich version or a different product that meets their needs. Support them through the transition with guides, FAQs, and customer service. This careful approach minimizes user inconvenience and maintains trust in your brand.

Reflecting on my own journey, I've learned the hard way that sunsetting a product requires more than just a decision; it demands a strategy. A mistake I've made, is acting on intuition/emotions rather than data. It's crucial to base your decision on comprehensive market analysis, user feedback, and performance metrics. Also, the way you communicate the sunset to your customers and stakeholders. I've found that transparent, empathetic communication, with a clear transition plan, can turn potential frustration into understanding and loyalty. Offering alternatives or migration paths can also mitigate disappointment. Remember, sunsetting is not just about ending a product's lifecycle; it's about preserving your brand's integrity and trust.

Prevent mistakes by ensuring comprehensive data analysis, customer communication, and internal stakeholder buy-in. Always provide a transition plan for customers, maintaining service quality to protect the brand reputation.

Avoid sunsetting mistakes by: Timing: Choose the right time based on data-driven insights and strategic rationale. Data-Driven Strategy: Justify decisions with a clear strategy backed by data. Communication: Transparently communicate decisions, timelines, and alternatives. Transition Plan: Develop a comprehensive plan for smooth customer migration. Legal Considerations: Address legal, technical, and operational aspects to avoid issues. Customer Impact: Minimize disruptions and assess potential customer impact. Feedback and Flexibility: Stay open to feedback and adjust plans. Employee Communication: Keep internal teams informed for a cohesive approach. Alternative Solutions:

Common mistakes include poor communication, abrupt discontinuation, and lack of support for transitioning users. Avoid these by planning carefully, communicating transparently and empathetically, and providing alternatives or migration paths for users.

Error mitigation during the sunsetting process requires a thoughtful and strategic approach. Provide open and timely communication to meet customer expectations. Test thoroughly the alternative solutions well before sunset to minimize disruptions and ensure a smooth transition. Collaborate with customer support and sales teams to quickly address any potential issues or inquiries, making the process smoother. Use learnings from past sunset exercises, and continually refine the strategy with feedback and the market dynamics in mind. Refresh your product portfolio periodically while staying attentive to the emergence of issues and opportunities that can ease decision-making throughout the sun setting.

Follow the SUNSET framework; Scrutinise Performance (Financial Health, User Engagement etc) Unearth Alternatives (Fresh lick of paint, Sell & Strategize) Navigate Impact (On brand equity, employee fallout, financial fallout) Strategise the Sunset (Graceful goodbye & end-of-life support) Execute with Empathy (Focus on the positives with internal teams) Transparency (Communicate the decision openly and honestly)

Beyond the immediate factors, consider the long-term brand implications, potential market gaps left behind, and how sunsetting fits into the larger product ecosystem. Think about how to leverage this as an opportunity for positive change and innovation.

The decision to bid farewell to a product is quite challenging and hence it should be done post a holistic evaluation of factors like demand, competition, product performance, lifecycle stage etc. , considering both short-term and long-term implications for goals and resources, and competitive position in market. A couple of mental models that I have seen industry experts use are the S-curve analysis and real option model. Decision to sunset a product, can be highly beneficial or harmful for the organization. So, we definitely want to take our time and carefully weigh all our options before making any moves.

When sunsetting a product, it’s also important to consider the impact on our team. It can be demoralizing for a team to see their product being discontinued. We need to manage this change carefully, acknowledge the team’s efforts, and help them see the positive side of the change. It’s also an opportunity for the team to learn and grow.

User engagement is the most important indicator when deciding to sunset a product. If: 1. User engagement is steadily declining 2. The cost to maintain the product is HIGHER than the value realized 3. There are better alternatives to your product in the market As the PM, you should put together a business case with this data to drive alignment with stakeholders to sunset the product and decide what to build next.