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Chapter 7 • Operations and Postimplementation 193

GO-LIVE READINESS
Several tasks and activities need to fall into place to Go-live, and determining the level of readi-
ness is a challenge. If an elaborate readiness checkpoint is not in place, steps will be missed and
the Go-live will be very bumpy or, worse, have to retreat back to the old legacy system. Assessing
the level of readiness should start several months before the actual Go-live date. For some time the
teams will have been working to finish a variety of tasks and activities throughout the project.
The Go-live readiness process will clarify the progress toward completing the activities and
identifying the major issues on which to focus before going live. All implementation areas must
be assessed in the readiness process. These include the infrastructure, development, configuration,
conversion, testing, training, communications, operations, command central, reporting, and users.
Input from the project teams, users, and team leaders needs to be gathered and summarized for
review.
With the first readiness review many tasks and activities will not be completed or look
close to completion. The conversion team may not have had a successful conversion, and testing
will likely be problematic, especially if development is not complete. Training documentation
and course objectives may not be finalized, and reporting may be totally up in the air. This is
okay. The first readiness checkpoint gives management and the project team a very good idea of
what remains to be done before going live. It raises issues of what needs to be accomplished for
Day one and creates a focus for the teams. Management will be able to address issues with
additional staff or project management. Only after several months or years of working through
an implementation will the readiness process let the teams know just how much more needs to be
completed before going live.
Go-live readiness is at best tedious and time consuming. Most staff and users will be
frustrated with the process during the first round of review. Teams often get caught up in the
emotion of day-to-day problems and issues. Readiness will clarify for them what needs to be
done and move the teams and staff from dealing with the anxieties of the project to the tasks
at hand to prepare for Go-live. It will help the project management office (PMO) to address
areas that are not ready and to notify senior management on the project progress toward
going live.
Go-live readiness reviews need to be documented and communicated to the project team
and the company. Readiness involves documenting the current metrics related to what remains to
be completed. These data, along with input via discussions with all team members, need to be
reviewed and verified for accuracy. This process will allow team members to express concerns
about project readiness and bring to light the facts of what is truly complete and what remains
before going live. The project management office evaluates data and progress based on input
from the project leads and a few other team members. This process allows for all involved to
provide input and keeps the teams centered on what is truly complete and what is not as complete
as one believes.
The first readiness review will bring several issues to light on which to focus and, one
hopes, not too many surprises. From the first to the last review, the teams will see significant
project progress toward going live. The Go-live date needs to be evaluated with each review.
Unless there are a significant number of new issues or changes in the reported project status, the
Go-live date should not be changed with the first Go-live readiness review. There should be at
least three readiness reviews, about one month to six weeks apart, with the last one to two weeks
before the Go-live date to decide ultimately on going live. With the second and subsequent