Cutover & Transition Management

Cutover strategy and planning

The approach, big bang, phased or parallel run, chosen for the risk, with a minute-by-minute runbook for every cutover event.

Readiness gates

Clear criteria for business, technology, data, people and customer readiness, checked at each gate before the program moves on.

Dress rehearsals

Full rehearsals of the cutover, timed and measured, repeated until the runbook works and the team knows it.

Command centre

A single command centre that runs the cutover weekend: live status, issue triage, escalation, and the go or no-go decision with executive sign-off.

Rollback planning

A tested rollback plan with clear triggers, so the program always has a safe way back.

Hypercare

Intensive support after go-live for customers, staff and advisers, with issues tracked to closure before the program hands over to business as usual.

Cutover management is the planning and running of a go-live: the final move of customers, data and operations from the old platform to the new one. It covers the cutover strategy, the runbook, readiness gates, dress rehearsals, the command centre, the go or no-go decision, rollback and hypercare.

The cutover approach, a minute-by-minute runbook with owners, readiness criteria for business, technology, data and people, reconciliation checks, communication to customers and staff, the go or no-go decision points, a tested rollback plan, and the hypercare plan after go-live.

As many as it takes for the timing, reconciliation and rollback to work reliably. Large migrations usually run several full rehearsals, and each one should be measured against the runbook so the team knows exactly how long every step takes.

It depends on the risk. Phased cutovers and parallel runs move customers in waves and keep the option to pause, which lowers the risk of any single event; a single cutover can suit a smaller or simpler move. The approach should be chosen deliberately, with the alternatives properly considered.

Hypercare is the period of intensive support straight after go-live, when a dedicated team resolves issues fast, supports customers and staff, and tracks every problem to closure before the program hands the new platform over to business as usual.