DEC STD 028-1

This document, "DEC STD 028-1 Corporate Product Phase Down Policy," outlines Digital's policy for managing the end-of-life cycle of all its hardware and software products and services.

Key points:

• Purpose: To define the processes for managing products as they approach sales end-of-life, ensuring successful customer migration to new solutions, ongoing maintenance and support for the existing customer base, and effective management of corporate assets.
• Objectives: To support Digital's Customer Satisfaction and Return On Asset (ROA) goals.
• Scope: Applies to all cross-functional organizations involved in product management, including Hardware and Software Product Business Unit (PBU) Product Management, Manufacturing, Sales, Services, and Marketing.
• Policy: Digital's policy is to manage all products throughout their entire life cycle, with Product Phase Down planning beginning in the early development stages.
• Key Responsibilities:
  • PBU Product Management: Has primary responsibility for initiating and managing the overall corporate Product Phase Down (PPD) activity, establishing cross-functional PPD teams, developing plans, and communicating messages.
  • Manufacturing: Contributes to PPD planning, establishing its own PPD team, and implementing relevant plans.
  • Sales: Alerts PBU Product Management to phase-down needs, forecasts demand, communicates with customers, and helps them migrate.
  • Customer Services: Continues to support products as long as needed, participates in PPD teams, and develops its own phase-down plan.
  • Product Marketing: Provides input on demand forecasts, develops migration solutions and strategies, crafts phase-down messages, and creates programs to manage inventory.