BEST PRACTICES FOR ACTIVATION AND GO LIVE PLANNING
By Keshia Cooper
Arriving at the point of activation planning, then go live is a huge accomplishment and should be recognized
as a major milestone. Unfortunately, the task of activation planning is sometimes under valued, or in some
cases, over looked. To build on the solid foundation that the team has already established and to continue to
lay the ground work for success; major focus should be placed on a detailed activation and go live plan. This
article will explore some best practices to ready the team for a smooth and successful activation.
You will need a project team and subject matter experts, since they hold the key to success in the planning
effort. The first activity should be to establish a support and activation strategy document. This strategy
document is designed to set the expectations for activation and define the boundaries for support. The elements
that should be included in this document are:
- Go live entry and exit criteria
- Operational readiness
- Support strategy
- Activation
- Stabilization
- Resource management
- Activation and command center processes
The go live entry and exit criteria are meant to identify the items that must be in place before you can
enter a go-live, or should you need to exit a go live due to an unforeseen issue or risk. It is important to
clearly establish the go live entry criteria as a check and balance to ensure the team is ready for the go live
and to reduce the risk in case you need to exit the go live. Go live entry criteria could include, but is not
limited to, items such as: 75% or better of users trained, test results approved and documented, and an
incident management process established. A portion of this planning is meant to take a 30 foot view of critical
activation tasks and come up from the details to give a broad view of where the project stands. The exit
criterion is meant to define what the team will do if an unforeseen risk or issue presents itself. An example
of what should be included in the exit criteria includes reverting back to paper and restoring old system
processes. Depending on the impact of the implementation, additional effort may need to be placed on testing
the back out plans included in the Go Live Exit Criteria to ensure a smooth back out process. Another
component of the plan should include a thorough evaluation of the organization’s operational readiness. This
effort is meant to take a closer look at the support procedures, personnel and technical infrastructure as a
means to further reduce risks and communication issues.
When planning for your command center, an incident management plan should be utilized. The incident
management plan should be comprehensive enough to provide an understanding to the team of how issues will be
managed during the go live, and then after as an on going process. A schedule should be developed with
resource names and times they are expected to be in the command center. This schedule should be published and
shared well before the go live. Care should be taken to define appropriate incident categories, priorities and
the expected response times by the team to each of the categories during the life of the command center.
Following the above guidelines can make the difference between an “uneventful” go live and a “dynamic” go
live. If you would like more information on activation planning, you may call (610) 444 1233 or hit our website
at www.getvitalized.com.