Application Retirement Guide

Move work and records before access ends Northstar Components is a fictional organization retiring its project tracker, Atlas, and moving active work to a successor workspace. This guide helps application users and owners coordinate the move, identify who decides where material belongs, and raise unresolved cases before the access end date confirmed in the retirement notice. The example is illustrative; this page explains coordination but does not move data, approve decisions, or track completion. The retirement journey A planning sequence—not a live workflow or completion tracker. Identify List active work, reference material, shared exports, and dependencies in the retiring application. Application users with the application owner Assign Confirm a destination for each item and identify the role accountable for its ongoing ownership. Application owner with business and records specialists Move and check Move only material you are authorized to handle, then check that the intended recipient can locate and use it. Application users and receiving workspace owner Resolve exceptions Raise items with unclear ownership, destination, access needs, or retention questions with the application owner. Application owner coordinating the relevant specialist Plan for access to end Use the confirmed retirement notice for the end date and scope; do not assume the retiring application remains available afterward. Application owner with IT/security Who does what Keep individual move tasks distinct from decisions that need an accountable owner or specialist. Application users Identify the work and records you use, move material only when authorized, and flag anything whose destination or owner is unclear. List active items and the team or role that needs them. Check that moved work is findable in its intended destination. Raise access, dependency, or ownership questions with the application owner. Application owner Coordinate the inventory and handoffs, identify an accountable destination owner for each item, and gather exceptions for the relevant specialist. Confirm successor destinations and the access end date with IT/security. Coordinate ownership and retention questions with business and records specialists. Keep unresolved cases associated with the decision role needed. Choose the right next action These are decision choices, not links or automatic approvals. Active work with a confirmed successor Move active items to the approved successor destination and check that the receiving team can find them. Completed work still needed for reference Ask the application owner to confirm an approved destination and accountable custodian before moving it. Duplicate or apparently obsolete material Do not assume it can be discarded. Ask the application owner to coordinate any required business or records decision. Unclear destination, access, or authority Do not place the item in an assumed destination. Raise it with the application owner for specialist coordination. Worked example: an Atlas project board At fictional Northstar Components, a project board contains an active deliverable and an attached historical export. The team confirms the successor workspace for the active deliverable, moves it there, and checks that the receiving team can locate it. The export has unclear ownership and may have a separate retention need, so the user does not copy it into the new workspace by assumption. The application owner brings the export to the business owner and records specialist to determine its accountable custodian and approved destination. Why the paths differ: the active task has a confirmed working destination; the historical export needs an ownership and records decision first. This example does not determine an organization's retention requirements. Data ownership at a glance Use role-based handoffs; the relevant organizational specialists make decisions within their authority. Material Accountable role Action or decision Escalation point Active work Business owner for the work Confirm the successor destination and receiving owner; user moves authorized material. Application owner, then relevant IT/security specialist for access or technical issues. Historical records Records custodian identified by the business owner Confirm accountable custody and an approved destination before transfer. Application owner coordinates with the records specialist. Shared exports Business owner for the shared material Identify who relies on the export and whether it has a confirmed destination. Application owner coordinates with the records or IT/security specialist as relevant. Unclear ownership Not yet established Do not assign a destination by assumption; identify the decision needed and affected teams. Application owner coordinates with the relevant business, records, or IT/security specialist. Use the confirmed access end date Follow the retirement notice for the confirmed date, affected audience, and scope. An access end date is not the same as an archive or retention arrangement; any such arrangement must be confirmed separately by the accountable roles. Do not assume that moved data, user accounts, integrations, or exported files will remain available through the retiring application after access ends. If the notice conflicts with a dependency, an operational need, or a requested access exception, raise it with the application owner so the relevant IT/security specialist can assess it before the stated date. This guide does not establish an extension or promise continued access. When a handoff is not clear The application owner coordinates the question with the specialist responsible for the decision. What if I cannot tell where an item should go? Do not place it in a destination by guesswork. Note what the item supports and which team uses it, then raise it with the application owner to coordinate a business-owner or specialist decision. Who decides ownership of shared material? The accountable business role should identify the owner. The application owner coordinates the handoff; a records specialist advises on records questions within their role. What if work depends on an integration or another team? Tell the application owner what work depends on the integration or team and what could be affected. The owner coordinates with the relevant IT/security specialist and receiving team; do not assume the dependency will continue after retirement. What if a record may need to be retained? Do not decide to delete or relocate it based on this guide. Ask the application owner to bring the question to the records specialist and identify the accountable custodian and approved destination. Make the next handoff clear Raise uncertain items before the confirmed access end date. Users: identify your active work and bring uncertain items to the application owner. Application owners: gather unresolved cases and coordinate decisions with the relevant business, records, and IT/security specialists. For each unresolved item, identify what it is, which team needs it, what decision is needed, and which role must make that decision.