Your road map for your business only works if you protect it–and Tania Scroggie makes this clear in the latest installment of her YouTube series! In her video, Tania explores the problems with trying to handle legacy embedded products internally, rather than giving them to an expert like GDCA–and why offloading these long-tailed products doesn’t have to mean getting rid of them entirely. 

The Problem with Long-Tailed Legacy Products

The most important thing to remember is that the legacy products on their own are not the issue. The actual problem is the conflict of the needs of legacy products with the needs of new product development and your current portfolio, and that conflict can have a major impact on your entire business. Every time you make an ‘exception’ to maintain support for a legacy product, the less that decision becomes an exception and begins to define your business. 

Maintaining legacy products is complicated, and every time an OEM continues to try and support those older products, they add another layer of complexity to the problem. Engineering, supply chain, customer support–everything needed to sustain these products conflicts with the needs of new product development. Supporting the tail end of your products is extremely resource intensive, burning up valuable time and energy from your engineering department on products that won’t scale up. Your team will be pulled away from innovation just to sustain a product that will barely bring back a worthwhile profit.

Don’t Abandon the Tail–Transfer It

Rather than internalizing the problem or abandoning the product altogether, transfer it to a legacy equipment manufacturer (LEM) like GDCA. Not only will you be able to maintain good relationships with the customers of those products, you’ll be able to free up your engineering team to focus on the future. You’ll preserve your customers’ trust and support, without having to worry about dealing with those aging, low-volume products. 

Protect the core of your business by offloading what no longer fits its purpose to an expert in legacy electronics, take back control of your portfolio, and keep your priorities on track. Reach out to GDCA to learn more about how we can protect your roadmap, and check out all of Tania Scroggie’s videos over on our YouTube channel!