Posts by Tania Scroggie

Product End-of-Life Strategy: How to Know When It’s Time to Exit

September 21, 2026

Not every product belongs on your roadmap forever. For embedded OEMs, developing a product end-of-life strategy can be complicated. The decision to exit a legacy product is rarely straightforward. It’s messy. Strategic customers may still rely on it. The documentation might be partial or outdated. There might be lingering fears about compliance or the risk…

Legacy Product Support: How OEMs Can Transition Aging Products Without Losing Customers

July 17, 2026

Legacy product support is one of the biggest challenges facing OEMs today. As customers continue relying on aging systems, manufacturers must balance long-term support obligations with innovation, engineering resources, and product portfolio growth. The question isn’t whether legacy products should be supported—it’s how to do so without slowing the future of your business.  You built a great product, and…

The Real Risk of Legacy Products Is Reputation

May 19, 2026

For Embedded OEMs, the risk of legacy isn’t just technical—it’s reputational. When aging products remain in your portfolio without a clear plan for support, the brand you’ve worked so hard to build is what takes the hit.  Strategic customers expect continuity. When legacy products fail in the field or can’t be supported, they don’t just blame the product—they question the company.  Legacy Isn’t Neutral  Holding on to legacy…

LEM vs Vendor: Why OEMs Need a Legacy Equipment Manufacturer for Long-Term Sustainment

April 9, 2026

If you treat legacy like a transaction, you’ll keep paying for it.  Many OEMs think of end-of-life and sustainment transfers as a simple handoff. You document the product, pick a vendor, issue a PO, and move on.  But what happens when that “simple” PO fails an audit? Or when a critical DoD program is grounded because that…

Product Portfolio Optimization: Why OEMs Should Transfer Aging Product Lines Now

March 31, 2026

Managing Product Portfolios in Uncertain Markets: Why Now’s the Right Time to Transfer Aging Product Lines  In volatile markets, every product in your portfolio should justify its place. If legacy lines aren’t delivering growth or strategic value, why are you still carrying them? For Embedded OEMs, the challenge isn’t just about cutting costs—it’s about ensuring that every product in the portfolio actively…

Legacy Sustainment In-House: Hidden Risk for Embedded OEMs

February 9, 2026

What Happens When Embedded OEMs Keep Legacy Sustainment In-House? A quiet erosion that often ends in a sudden catastrophe.  The risk isn’t always a single, dramatic event; it’s a slow, silent drift. Systems degrade. Critical knowledge walks out the door. Customers grow frustrated. And leadership is often unaware of just how fragile their internal support has become until it’s too late. …

Wood Burning as Disposition for End-of-Life Products

June 19, 2021

Wood Burning as Disposition for End-of-Life Products I live on a ranch in northern California. This winter, we accounted for the dead oak trees and cleared them for the first time. Some of the wood we used for decoration, some to frame the dog’s new pen, and some we decided to sell. Because we do…

The Cost of Ad Hoc Obsolescence Management

May 6, 2021

The Cost of Ad Hoc Obsolescence Management Original Equipment Manufacturers that approach the support of older or legacy designs as a random eventuality often adopt an ad hoc attitude toward production. “Ad hoc” means they solve the obsolescence management issues as they come without establishing a general strategy for adapting to subsequent support requests. These…

Mergers and Acquisitions

April 6, 2021

Mergers and Acquisitions Sometimes we think the grass is greener on the other side of the fence. These days, it is not difficult to think this when social media allows us to paint beautiful pictures of who we are from a computer screen. During my marketing research, I came across a media campaign for an…