Are you ready for go-live?

Written by Ben Harding, CloudRock Managing Consultant (4 mins)

You’re bound to have doubts at go-live – maybe about the new system, your team’s readiness or people using and adopting the new solution. (There will always be at least one person who will worry about everything all the time.)

Doubts usually arise or increase when the workload is high and milestones are impending. It’s important to create a team ethos that allows individual concerns to be voiced and addressed. However, we’re not focusing this article on what makes a good team. This is about how to determine if you’re ready to go live.

Most worries come in the final countdown. Even the most rational might wobble and it’s understandable. There is a lot riding on it. You are changing the heart of your company, the one system that all employees use and have in common. People’s pay is at risk. You could lose trust and damage your company’s reputation. So, you’re right to be worried.

It’s about balance – too much or too little worry is damaging. So, how do you know if you are ready to go? Some projects go live when they’re not ready, while others delay because of fear.

The key is a 5-letter word: trust.

If you’re in the final countdown and need to know if you’re ready, check your level of trust on these 6 areas:

• Trust the tests that have been run.

  • You’ve completed configuration, end-to-end and user acceptance testing.

  • You’ve completed your payroll validations and know the outcomes.

  • You know the issues remaining.

• Trust the data that has been prepared and verified for migration.

  • Your final data has been checked

  • You know what data needs to be loaded post go-live, and how it’s going to be added

• Trust your support teams.

  • Your support team has been engaged with training and testing, they know the solution.

  • You have hypercare arrangements with the vendor and project team

  • You have an Application Management Services (‘AMS’) contract signed and the transition has started

• Trust your training.

  • You’ve trained key users and support teams

  • You’ve had useful feedback from testing

  • You have knowledgeable Change Champions standing by

• Trust the communications.

  • You’re clear and consistent with your message

  • People know what is happening and when

• Trust your plan.

  • You have a clear and detailed cutover plan

  • Everyone is aware of their own tasks and timelines

  • The team are clear on the key tasks and dependencies

  • You have a back-up plan. Right? Right?!

  • You know how to get people paid if things don’t go to plan

  • You know the point of no return and the tasks that must be completed before and after this point.

Trusting your plan is critical. Go-live will be bumpy. There’s a lot to get done, using a team who are tired after a long project.

Always have a back-up plan, know when to use it and most importantly make sure you know how people will be paid and how key business process will continue to operate.

Embrace the worry, listen to the doubts, reflect on the impact of going live. But remember to trust the process. And don’t forget to enjoy it and celebrate – this is where your preparation and hard work pay off.

Let’s talk and find out more about how CloudRock can help you with your digital transformation.