Cutover Initialization

Stakeholder Map

The objective

• Cutover Manager & Stakeholder introduction
• Cutover Manager Responsibilities
• Stakeholder Role & Involvement within the project 
• Stakeholder way of working

Most of the time, the companies start to engage with a Cutover Manager a couple of months before the due Go Live date. The project is already running for months or years, and the project team members & other stakeholders involved already know each other pretty well. 

It is important to meet each and every person one by one to start building the relationship. 

When it comes to Cutover Management, the list of stakeholders gets widely extended. It is not only who is building the solution, it’s who is going to be impacted by the solution. Business Teams from the Head Office, Colleagues on the fields, End Customers, Support Teams, etc.. from employees to directors, everyone needs to be fully aware about what is happening to make the right call at the right time.  

The list of stakeholders will evolve by the time we move further down the process. 

Key Stakeholders to start:

1. The Project Manager
2. The Enterprise or the Solution Architect
3. A Business representative
4. A Workstream Lead (Technical Lead, Test Manager, etc…)

We are all human being, we have all different experiences through companies and projects. 

It is interesting to understand typical information from each other to better know who we are going to work with

• How long we have been working on the project ? For the company? 
• What were the challenges when you first start? 
• Do you have any concern about the project? Why?  
• Which channel of communication do you prefer? 

Typical Meeting structure

For a first meeting, 30 min should be enough. Running meeting just for 30 min are easy to book depending on your stakeholder availability and are more efficient. Knowing we have only 30 min to cover the agenda allows us to easily go straight to what is essential. 

1. Cutover Manager Introduction – 5 min
2. Stakeholder Introduction – 5 min
3. Stakeholder background (see above questions for example) – 10 min
4. Quick overview of What does Cutover Management means? – 10 min

Cutover Scope Identification

Once we have the Stakeholder map, time to dig further. Now we know who is who and who is doing what, we are able to define the appropriate workshops. 

Phase’s Objectives:

• List and Confirm the Components (Applications, Middleware, Tools, etc…)  in the scope
• List the assumptions
• Start to highlight the dependencies (Understand how the blocks are integrated together) 
• Draft the Roadmap

In today’s world, everyone is busy. In most of the companies, people are assigned to several projects and have the own activities to run the business. For good and bad reasons, time is precious. So, How to Run Efficient Meetings?

Cutover Kick-Off Meeting

“The show must go on!” “Set the Expectations!” “Share the Cutover Vision!”

Get the traction! This is a one-off meeting where all stakeholders must be present. This meeting is the final outcome of all the previous ones in a smaller group.

The objectives are: 

• Provide an overview of what is the Cutover
• Share how the Cutover sessions will be articulated
• Present all the Stakeholders
• Present the Cutover Scope 
• Present How the Cutover Plan looks like, as per the current assumptions

A Standard Cutover Kick-Off Meeting’s Agenda: 

1. Cutover Overview
2. Cutover Key Meetings
3. Cutover Communication Tools and Process
4. Cutover Key Stakeholders
5. Cutover Components in Scope
6. Cutover Detailed Plan Template
7. Cutover High-Level Plan
8. Cutover Preparation Plan
9. Cutover Go No Go Criteria Template

We have defined a Cutover Kick-Off Meeting Template Presentation, which can be easily adapted to your project. Follow the link below.