Cutover & Go-Live
Cutover and go-live is the sub-module holding everything needed to move from the old system to the new one in a defined window, with a way back. It is the most rehearsed part of a programme because it is the least forgiving.
If you change this
It implies 6 topics across 3 modules, including Data & Analytics and Integration which you might not expect.
See the path ahead →Why it matters
Every other part of the programme can slip a week. Cutover cannot: the window is usually fixed by a period end, a payroll date or a contract expiry, and the organisation has to keep operating through it.
- It is time-boxed and irreversible in practice: Rollback is technically possible and organisationally awful.
- It is where everything converges: Data, interfaces, access, training and the business calendar all land in the same weekend.
- It is what users experience: The programme is judged on the first week, regardless of the eighteen months before it.
The workflow
- 01
Strategy
Big bang or phased, decided on risk and on what the business can absorb.
- 02
Planning
Every task, in sequence, with duration, owner and dependency.
- 03
Rehearsal
The plan executed end to end against production-like data, more than once.
- 04
Readiness assessment
Objective criteria assessed at a gate, with a genuine no-go option.
- 05
Execution
The plan run to the clock, with a command structure and fixed checkpoints.
- 06
Verification
Business validation before the system is released to users.
- 07
Hypercare
Elevated support until the first full cycle — including the first period close — has run.
Rehearse until the timings stop changing. The purpose of a dress rehearsal is not to prove it works; it is to find the tasks that take four hours when the plan said one.
What you need in place
- A task-level plan: With durations from rehearsal, not from estimation.
- Go/no-go criteria agreed in advance: Set while nobody is under pressure to say yes.
- A rollback plan with a decision point: And the last time at which it can still be taken.
- A command structure: Who directs, who decides, and how people are contacted.
- Business validation scripts: Real transactions the business runs before accepting.
- Hypercare cover through the first close: Not through the first week.
Questions to ask
01Window
What fixes the date, and what is the cost of moving it?
Dates set for convenience should move; dates set by a statutory deadline should not.
02Rehearsal
How many full rehearsals, and did the timings converge?
Diverging timings mean the plan is not ready.
03No-go
Who can say no, and what would make them?
If nobody can, the gate is decorative.
04Rollback
Until when can we go back, and who decides?
The point of no return should be on the plan.
05Validation
What must the business confirm before users get access?
Technical success is not business acceptance.
06Hypercare
Does cover extend through the first period close?
The first close is where the real defects appear.
Metrics and KPIs to track
Rehearsal variance
Planned against actual task durations, by rehearsal.
Critical path duration
Against the available window, with contingency.
Readiness criteria met
At each gate, by workstream.
Data reconciliation
Balances and counts agreed between source and target.
Hypercare volume
Tickets per day, by severity, trending.
Business validation pass rate
Scripts passed before release to users.
Covers
Alongside this