Components Of The Cutover Plan Template

The Cutover High Level View

Wondering Why?

We just highlighted how important it is to go deep into the detail, here we are with a High-Level View.

In Cutover Management, the second key component for a successful GO LIVE is Stakeholder alignment.

To reach the perfect alignment, you need to navigate back and forth between very detailed steps and high-level views.

The High-Level View is a result of the Cutover detailed steps. A logical visual of the key components to Go Live. 

Remember, an image is worth 1,000 words! 

The main objective is to provide the Big Picture.

It helps to visualize how the main activities are connected, are synchronized, are sequenced and what are the dependencies.

It can be used progress status during the execution.

We know how Senior Stakeholders love PowerPoint! Building nice slides with a lot of colours. We also have a Template for that HERE!

Nonetheless, keeping the High-Level View in a spreadsheet provides the flexibility to make changes independently to the size of the slide.

Another advantage is that you keep all information in a single document. So we don’t have to jump between several files or slides, looking for which one contains the information you need.

Tips: You can also use a screenshot of your Cutover High-Level View from your spreadsheet into your Cutover Approach Document that you share with the senior stakeholder team.

The Cutover Detailed Plan

The Master Plan! Your Single Best Friend during the Cutover Phase!

🎯 Keep track of all the tasks during the Cutover execution.

Key Columns Of The Cutover Plan

⏺️ Task Type | Drop Down List:  Used to organize your tasks and for reporting purposes (More details down below). The Parameters are Task, Section, Sub Section and Milestones

⏺️ Date | Formula: Task’s date when the task needs to happen relatively from the Go Live date. As plans always move, the date is a factor of the number of days from the target date. Hence, you don’t have to update the column over and over.

⏺️ Day to Go live | Number: Number of days from the target Go Live date

⏺️ Estimated Time | hh:mm AM/PM: What time the task is starting? The first time a section is fixed, the next one is dependent on the previous task’s duration

⏺️ Duration | Minutes: Estimation of how long the task will take

⏺️ Actual Time | hh:mm AM/PM: When did the task start during the production Cutover?

⏺️ Actual Duration | Minutes: How long did the task really last?

⏺️ System ID | Drop Down List: Which system is impacted by the task?

⏺️ Cutover Activities | Free Text: Task Description

⏺️ Exec Status | Percentage: Execution Status of the task

⏺️ Team Owner | Drop Down List: Multiple Dependent Drop-Down list linked to the Contact details tab.

⏺️ Task Owner | Drop Down List: Multiple Dependent Drop-Down list linked to the Contact details tab.

⏺️ Task Review Status | Drop Down List: Does the task need “To be Reviewed” for more detail? Is the task “Confirmed”? or it’s actually not required and can be “Cancelled”

⏺️ Note & Guidance | Free Text:  Add any comment, or note taken from a Cutover session or during the actual Cutover, to make sure you don’t miss anything

Cutover Plan Tip 1:

Filter on Comms in System ID Column to get your Cutover Communication Plan

The key principle remains the same: Keep ALL information in one single place

Here we are using Comms in System ID to identify the communication steps to send out during the Cutover. It makes it easy to filter on the keyword Comms to extract your Communication Plan.

The Cutover Milestones View

As we said: In Cutover Management, the second key component for a successful GO LIVE is Stakeholder alignment.

We know that everyone consumes information in different ways.

The Cutover Milestones view is simply based on the Cutover Detailed Plan, Task Type = Milestones.

So, when the Sponsor wants to know the status of each milestone, all required data is already there.

The Cutover Action Log

Keep track of the actions taken from the Cutover sessions

Even if you use AI to take your meeting minutes and actions log, we recommend to centralize your actions here.

Keep all information in one single place for more productivity and less distraction.

How does it differ from the Cutover Project Plan? 

The Cutover Project Plan list the standard activities that the Cutover Team needs to complete during the Cutover Phase.

For example: 

• Set up the Cutover Kick-Off Meeting
• Define the Data Migration Approach
• Define the Data Validation Process

The Cutover Action Log is tied to the Cutover Detailed activities to continue to dig deeper and deeper. It is usually only used by the Cutover Manager as its own action tracker. 

For example: 

• Confirm with Jose the Data Integrity steps
• Contact Stephane to confirm the name of the Data Report for Beatrice’s task

The Cutover Contact List

Keep the contact in a safe place

Note: If you use MS Online, you might be able to import some contact data directly in the tab. Be careful of the format. The idea remains to keep it simple and to keep all the necessary data in one single place. 

🔮✨ Secret Weapon

The hidden table for the Dependent Drop-Down List.

⚠️ Do Not Touch

The Cutover Dashboard

Simple visual report to have a view on the Cutover progress. It can be easily used for any communication mail with senior stakeholders. 

Dashboard Date = TODAY()

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