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194 Chapter 7 • Operations and Postimplementation

readiness reviews the Go-live date should be assessed as to whether the date can be met. As with
any project there should be a Go-live date with at least two other alternative dates. These Go-live
dates, along with the readiness review status, will help the project management office decide on
the actual Go-live date. The readiness review status and Go-live date must be communicated to
all involved. This will be important to the credibility of the process.
A detailed report needs to be available, along with an executive summary for senior
management. It is important to meet with senior management to review the readiness status
for a couple of reasons: It will inform senior management on the status of the project and
allow them to ask questions related to moving forward. It also gives the project management
office another opportunity to discuss with senior management the successes and issues
with the project. Even though senior management should generally be up to date on what is
going on, the Go-live readiness meetings create a higher level of awareness of how this
implementation will affect the company. Finally, there needs to be an abbreviated readiness
review just before Go-live to assess any of the outstanding issues brought to light in the
previous review.
The Go-Live Readiness Review and Status Report is often a table that shows the status of
each area at a glance, with the key activities that need to be completed or a workaround agreed to
before going live.

Sample Go-Live Readiness Review and Status Report

Category Criterion Criticality Site 1 Site 2 Group 1 Group 2 Key Measures Contingent Workaround(s) Decision Owner Task Contact Minimum “Pass Status” Current Actual Status Assessment Assessment Date

Category: Technical infrastructure readiness
Operational readiness
Testing readiness
Conversion readiness
Training readiness
Communications readiness
Production support readiness
Audit readiness
Risk readiness
Corporate management readiness
Criterion: What activity or component needs
to be ready?
Criticality: High, medium, or low
Site or Group: Area, location, or group that must
be ready
Key What activity or task needs to be
Measurement: completed?