Last week, I had asked:

How would you keep track of the complexity and communication during the cutover event?

This is where the cutover event would be treated more like any other large IT project going into PROD for the first time. Each group responsible for their piece having their own communications channel whether it is via chat or a con-call. Pre-defined checklists that you walk through, and the more public dashboards that highlight what work is done vs what’s in progress.

While the work will be specific to each group, for everything to make sense, you still need to have:

  • A point person/PM providing the global status updates to the executive team
  • A common dashboard that can be referenced/updated by all teams (or key designates)
  • A common checklist for all activities
  • A schedule/rotation list for who’s available when with emergency contact details (especially when the cutover is longer than a day)

That checklist will be frequently updated so ensuring a common location for the most recent copy (or a URL if it is hosted on the cloud) will be very important. Also, do make sure everyone is on the same page with regards with the notations used for tracking status and what time tasks are expected to start and stop.

How does this match up with your list?

cab