Cutover planning is critical. In this article we will look at the key activities to ensure a successful cutover.

Best practice is to agree on the implementation approach from the start of the project. The amount of effort required to plan the approach will depend on the business objectives, complexity of the project, go-live deadline, number of implementation options and other factors.

There can be a tendency to push this planning work back, especially on projects with a go-live date of eighteen months or more in the future. This is a mistake because the implementation strategy can impact development, testing, training and other activities.

It is wise to base the implementation strategy on a risk-averse approach. This may seem obvious, but many projects do not give this the amount of thought required. The seven key considerations are:

1. Implementation prerequisites.
2. Cutover impact on operations.
3. Freeze points. (When the existing system, or parts of the system, will no longer be used.)
4. Quality assurance.
5. Dependencies.
6. Key dates.
7. Risk management.

Cutover Planning

The cutover strategy can influence virtually every aspect of a project.

Key decisions and considerations relating to cutover include:

• Will the cutover be phased, or will all aspects of the project be delivered and go live at once?
• Does the organisation have a hard deadline that cannot be moved? (Therefore, is a minimum viable product approach being considered?)
• What are the key features that must be delivered?
• What are the critical success factors?
• What are the key dates that must be avoided? (Due to pressure from BAU operations, year-end, etc.)
• Are there any resource constraints at different times of the year that would prevent cutover?

Resource constraints raise an important point related to cutover planning.

You’ve probably heard someone say, ‘We don’t have time to fix it before go-live; we’ll do it later.’ Please push back on this. Before cutover you have the project team with all the knowledge of the analysis, development, testing, etc. As soon as the project goes live (or at the end of the warranty period), critical resources will be reallocated. Support teams are usually under pressure with BAU problems, and it will take them longer to understand and fix the issues. Do everything to deliver the highest quality product possible while you have the project resource.

Implementation and Cutover Prerequisites

It’s important to document the cutover prerequisites, and this is another activity that should start at the beginning of the project. Cutover planning should be an integral part of all planning activities to prevent issues as you approach go-live.

Typical cutover prerequisites include:

• Development completed.
• Quality assurance activities completed and confirmation that the quality thresholds have been achieved.
• All test phases completed.
• Integration testing completed.
• Dress rehearsals completed.
• Training completed.
• Security configuration implemented.
• Security testing completed.
• Recommendations from the security test implemented. (With an agreed plan for any outstanding activities.)
• Monitoring in place and proven in tests and/or dress rehearsals.
• Super users trained and briefed on cutover responsibilities.
• Risk assessment completed.
• Cutover resource confirmed.
• Rollback or fix-forward options analysed, and the agreed approach has been signed off.
• Contingency resource in place for critical cutover activities.
• Prerequisite data loads completed.
• Infrastructure build completed and signed off.
• Post go-live support environment activities completed.
• Performance testing completed.
• Support model agreed.
• User access configuration documented and proven.
• Parallel runs completed if applicable.
• Any third-party application updates completed.
• Business sign-off obtained.
• CAB approval.
• Data quality assurance completed.
• Quick reference guides signed off.
• Report testing completed.
• Master data signed off.
• Go/No Go meetings completed with a Go decision.
• Go communications sent out.

This isn’t an exhaustive list but provides a starting point for your plans.