This standard ensures teams have the autonomy to decommission their own systems and services when they no longer add value. It prevents accumulation of legacy platforms and drives continuous improvement in architecture.
Aligned to our "Decentralised Decision-Making" policy, this standard promotes ownership, agility, and efficient resource use. Without it, outdated systems linger, slowing progress and increasing maintenance overhead.
| Category | Description |
|---|---|
| People & Culture | Teams lack confidence or authority to decommission. Fear of breaking things discourages action. |
| Process & Governance | No formal process exists for retiring systems. Decisions are made reactively or not at all. |
| Technology & Tools | No visibility into which systems are unused. Tools do not support lifecycle tracking. |
| Measurement & Metrics | No metrics on system age, usage, or retirement. No accountability for tech debt cleanup. |
| Category | Description |
|---|---|
| People & Culture | Teams begin identifying systems that are no longer needed. Decisions require managerial approval. |
| Process & Governance | Early-stage decommissioning processes emerge. Inconsistent application across teams. |
| Technology & Tools | Some dashboards show system inventory and usage. Manual effort required to assess deprecation. |
| Measurement & Metrics | Basic metrics on infrastructure costs or runtime activity. Retirement actions are not tracked consistently. |
| Category | Description |
|---|---|
| People & Culture | Teams are accountable for the full lifecycle of their services. Decommissioning is part of normal delivery practice. |
| Process & Governance | A clear, organisation-wide process for system retirement is documented and followed. Roles and responsibilities are defined. |
| Technology & Tools | Platforms support tagging, versioning, and sunset tracking. Decommissioning is part of roadmap planning. |
| Measurement & Metrics | System usage, cost, and tech debt are reported. Retirement decisions are made based on objective data. |
| Category | Description |
|---|---|
| People & Culture | Teams proactively review systems for retirement as part of retros and planning. Decommissioning is seen as a sign of maturity. |
| Process & Governance | Retirement outcomes are reviewed post-decommission. Lessons are used to improve future lifecycle decisions. |
| Technology & Tools | Automation assists with identifying sunset candidates. Tooling includes alerts for system dormancy or redundancy. |
| Measurement & Metrics | % of decommissioned systems per year is tracked. Technical debt reduction and reclaimed resources are reported. |
| Category | Description |
|---|---|
| People & Culture | Lifecycle ownership is deeply embedded in engineering practice. Sunsetting systems is normalised and celebrated. |
| Process & Governance | Decommissioning is integrated into quarterly business planning. Feedback loops drive continual improvement. |
| Technology & Tools | System lifecycle is managed end-to-end via platform tooling. Roadmaps integrate retirement, replacement, and refactoring. |
| Measurement & Metrics | Business impact of system retirement (e.g., savings, improved flow) is quantified. Organisation benchmarks against best-in-class lifecycle health. |