Obsolescence In Disruption

A significant result of disruption is the obsolescence and the market disruption is no different. This means that the market partners must focus on both the change creating new features and functionality along with the retirement of obsolete services in their drive for change in order. This can be a very difficult process because it requires additional focus on the determination and then the retirement of the obsolete services and this can be almost as much work as the development of the new services and capabilities. The challenge for everyone is spending the time and effort on elimination of obsolete capabilities and services because this is not the exciting aspect of disruption and in general is rather thankless. This now requires a bit of cultural modification to focus on the importance of eliminating obsolete features and its role in supporting development of new features.




While it may be difficult to identify legacy features and functionality that has been made obsolete it is definitely not impossible and it is really important to eliminate obsolete features not only because it is no longer necessary but also because the obsolete features can also impact the functionality of new features. This may seem at odds with the concept of new features and functionality, however the obsolete features can get in the way of new features and even negate the feature or benefits unwittingly. In addition to the general housekeeping concept of cleaning up obsolete features there is also a need to eliminate unnecessary costs of license and support costs that will continue on until the feature is eliminated. There is no real easy way to identify and there is also, unfortunately, no standard process to eliminate the obsolete features. Each feature is unique and the challenge with the elimination is the integration of these features. The good news though is that there is an additional benefit to elimination of the obsolete features which is that obsolete features will also eliminate direct hard integration while the new features will deliver loosely coupled integration that simplifies the future obsolescence.




In addition to the effort required to identify and remove obsolete features there is a cultural aspect to this challenge. The culture of the organization must focus and encourage the elimination of obsolete features in the same manner as focus on new features. This is a critical aspect to the equation because of the speed of disruption there must be an equal focus on elimination of obsolete features to support the development of new features. We must realize that the acting of eliminating obsolete features is just as much a part of the market disruption as the development of new features. One way to modify the focus is the realization and the promotion of the benefits of eliminating obsolete features. One very important benefit of the elimination of obsolete features is that these obsolete features currently are more hard wired to the overall functionality and this increases the difficulty to change at the velocity the market demands.




Remember there are always two sides to a problem and change and these must be taken into account in order to meet the changing demands in the manner and velocity required. This requires a two pronged approach to delivery; change in culture to encourage and recognize the importance of eliminating obsolete features in addition to the focus on responding to changes in the marketplace.