Go-live planning is not like wedding planning, it is like planning a marriage. It is not just planning for a big day; it involves planning the events prior to the go-live phase and afterwards too. A huge amount of effort has been put into the project—teams have been working extremely hard designing, developing, and testing, and a lot of communication and dollars have been put into planning the release. A well-documented go-live plan can help ensure a smooth execution of the release and make the most of all that hard work and, of course, the dollars invested in the project.
As part of the release, you may be performing hundreds of tasks, so it is important to track their progress, dependencies, and corrective actions. Go-live planning involves the following:
Putting together all the steps in the plan
Defining the sequence and dependencies between the steps
Determining the time needed for each step
Defining the owners, and ensuring that all concerned parties have a...