Choose one Google Cloud product to retire and justify the decision

Imagine you are a product manager at Google Cloud. Choose one product in the Google Cloud portfolio that you would retire, and make the case for retiring it rather than continuing to invest in it. Commit to a specific product: an answer that only lists general reasons products get shut down does not answer the question. ```hint Look for overlap first Products are easiest to retire when their customers already have a better-supported home elsewhere in the same portfolio. Look for two offerings that do nearly the same job, then weigh how painful moving those customers would be. ``` ### Clarifying Questions - Do I own the product I pick, or am I advising Cloud leadership on the whole portfolio? - Does "sunset" mean stopping new sign-ups, shutting the service down for everyone, or folding it into another product? - May I assume access to internal usage, revenue and support-cost data, or should I reason only from public information? - Is the main aim to cut cost, to simplify the portfolio for buyers, or to free engineers for strategic bets? ### What a Strong Answer Covers - Explicit criteria for choosing a candidate: strategic fit, overlap with other products, usage and revenue trend, cost to maintain, and harm to customers. - A specific product chosen with a reasoned case, plus why other plausible candidates were set aside. - The data to check before committing, and what result would change the decision. - The effect on enterprise customers and their trust, including the migration path and notice. - How the success of the sunset would be measured, and its main risks. ### Follow-up Questions - Your data shows a handful of large customers depend on one feature only this product has. Does that change your decision? - How would you keep customers from reading this sunset as a sign that other Google Cloud products are at risk too? - What would you measure one year after the announcement to judge whether retiring the product was the right call?