Templates › Cutover and hypercare checklist

Cutover and hypercare checklist

Format: Excel (xlsx)
Owning skill: support-operations:cutover-plan
Tailored from: organisation, goals, estate, constraints, edition, modules_in_scope, roles, generated_on
Status: draft

How to use this template

The project manager ({{roles.project-manager}}) owns the cutover plan and the support lead ({{roles.support-lead}}) owns hypercare. Start the workbook early in Prepare so it can be tested in at least one full rehearsal before go-live, and refine it after each rehearsal using the timings actually achieved. During cutover, the runbook is the single source of truth: tasks are ticked off in it as they complete and every deviation is logged. Hypercare sheets stay in use until the exit criteria are met and support is handed over.

Target go-live: {{goals.target_go_live}}. Known change freezes: {{constraints.change_freezes}}.

Guidance: Rehearse the cutover end to end in a non-production environment with the people who will do it on the night, and time every step. A cutover that has not been rehearsed is a guess. Agree the rollback point before cutover starts: the moment after which going back costs more than fixing forward.

SMB: Cutover may take a single evening or weekend with the partner, the administrator and one process owner. Keep the go/no-go criteria and the rollback decision written down even when the same few people take every decision.

Enterprise only: Run a cutover command centre with a published schedule of checkpoints, a named decision-maker at each go/no-go point, and separate runbooks per module or region if go-live is phased.

Sheet: Read me

Item	Detail
Organisation	{{organisation.name}}
Edition	{{edition}}
Modules in scope	{{modules_in_scope}}
Legacy system being replaced	{{estate.current_crm}}
Generated on	{{generated_on}}
Time convention	T is go-live; T-5d is five days before, T+1d one day after
Status values	Not started, In progress, Done, Blocked, Not applicable

Item

Detail

Organisation

Edition

Modules in scope

Legacy system being replaced

Generated on

Time convention

T is go-live; T-5d is five days before, T+1d one day after

Status values

Not started, In progress, Done, Blocked, Not applicable

Sheet: Readiness

ID	Readiness item	Area	Owner	Evidence
RD01	UAT signed off for every process in scope	Testing	{{roles.process-owner}}	Signed UAT sign-off forms
RD02	Final mock migration and reconciliation passed	Data	{{roles.data-migration-lead}}	Reconciliation sheet signed by independent checker
RD03	Licences assigned and security roles mapped for every user	Access	{{roles.platform-administrator}}	User and role export reviewed
RD04	Mailboxes approved and tested for server-side synchronisation	Email	{{roles.platform-administrator}}	Mailbox test results
RD05	Production integrations configured with live endpoints and credentials	Integration	{{roles.integration-lead}}	Connection test log
RD06	Users trained and quick-reference guides published	Change	{{roles.change-lead}}	Training completion by team
RD07	Support model, hypercare rota and escalation routes agreed	Support	{{roles.support-lead}}	Published rota
RD08	Cutover rehearsed and timings fit the agreed window	Cutover	{{roles.project-manager}}	Rehearsal report

Readiness item

Area

Owner

Due

Evidence

Status

RD01

UAT signed off for every process in scope

Testing

Signed UAT sign-off forms

RD02

Final mock migration and reconciliation passed

Data

Reconciliation sheet signed by independent checker

RD03

Licences assigned and security roles mapped for every user

Access

User and role export reviewed

RD04

Mailboxes approved and tested for server-side synchronisation

Mailbox test results

RD05

Production integrations configured with live endpoints and credentials

Integration

Connection test log

RD06

Users trained and quick-reference guides published

Change

Training completion by team

RD07

Support model, hypercare rota and escalation routes agreed

Support

Published rota

RD08

Cutover rehearsed and timings fit the agreed window

Cutover

Rehearsal report

Sheet: Cutover runbook

ID	When	Task	Detail	Owner	Depends on	Checkpoint
CO01	T-2d	Freeze data entry in {{estate.current_crm}}	Set legacy system to read-only; communicate to users	{{roles.process-owner}}	Go decision for cutover start
CO02	T-2d	Deploy final managed solutions to production	Through pipeline; record solution versions	{{roles.release-manager}}	CO01
CO03	T-2d	Set environment variables, connection references and configuration data	Use production values from the ALM strategy	{{roles.platform-administrator}}	CO02
CO04	T-1d	Extract and load final migration data	Follow load order in mapping workbook	{{roles.data-migration-lead}}	CO03
CO05	T-1d	Reconcile migrated data	Counts and sample field checks by independent checker	{{roles.test-manager}}	CO04	Go/no-go checkpoint 1
CO06	T-1d	Enable integrations and confirm first messages flow	Start with inbound reference data	{{roles.integration-lead}}	CO05
CO07	T	Business smoke test with key users	Run agreed smoke scripts per module	{{roles.process-owner}}	CO06	Go/no-go checkpoint 2
CO08	T	Open access to all users and send go-live communication	Enable security roles or app access	{{roles.platform-administrator}}	CO07

When

Task

Detail

Owner

Planned start

Planned duration

Depends on

Checkpoint

Status

Actual finish

CO01

T-2d

Freeze data entry in {{estate.current_crm}}

Set legacy system to read-only; communicate to users

Go decision for cutover start

CO02

T-2d

Deploy final managed solutions to production

Through pipeline; record solution versions

CO01

CO03

T-2d

Set environment variables, connection references and configuration data

Use production values from the ALM strategy

CO02

CO04

T-1d

Extract and load final migration data

Follow load order in mapping workbook

CO03

CO05

T-1d

Reconcile migrated data

Counts and sample field checks by independent checker

CO04

Go/no-go checkpoint 1

CO06

T-1d

Enable integrations and confirm first messages flow

Start with inbound reference data

CO05

CO07

Business smoke test with key users

Run agreed smoke scripts per module

CO06

Go/no-go checkpoint 2

CO08

Open access to all users and send go-live communication

Enable security roles or app access

CO07

Guidance: The rows above are typical anchor tasks; a real runbook often has many more. Add module-specific steps (for example, activating SLAs, routing rules and queues for Customer Service, or enabling the schedule board and mobile sync for Field Service).

Sheet: Go-no-go criteria

Criterion	Measure	Threshold agreed	Evidence	Owner
No open critical defects	Defect log	None open	Defect report	{{roles.test-manager}}
Data reconciliation complete	Reconciliation sheet	Every difference explained	Signed reconciliation	{{roles.data-migration-lead}}
Integrations working	First messages processed	Agree per interface	Integration monitoring	{{roles.integration-lead}}
Users can sign in with correct access	Smoke test by persona	All personas pass	Smoke test log	{{roles.security-lead}}
Support ready	Rota staffed, channels live	In place	Published rota	{{roles.support-lead}}

Criterion

Measure

Threshold agreed

Evidence

Owner

Result (go or no-go)

No open critical defects

Defect log

None open

Defect report

Data reconciliation complete

Reconciliation sheet

Every difference explained

Signed reconciliation

Integrations working

First messages processed

Agree per interface

Integration monitoring

Users can sign in with correct access

Smoke test by persona

All personas pass

Smoke test log

Support ready

Rota staffed, channels live

In place

Published rota

Guidance: The executive sponsor ({{roles.executive-sponsor}}) takes the final decision on the evidence above and records it.

Sheet: Rollback plan

Trigger	Decision point	Rollback steps	Owner	Communication
Reconciliation fails and cannot be fixed in the window	Checkpoint 1	Keep legacy system live; reopen data entry; disable production access	{{roles.project-manager}}	Users told to continue in {{estate.current_crm}}
Critical process fails in smoke test	Checkpoint 2	As above; log defects; replan cutover	{{roles.project-manager}}	Sponsor briefing, user notice
Integration failure affecting orders or billing	Checkpoint 2	Suspend interface; agree manual workaround or roll back	{{roles.integration-lead}}	{{estate.erp}} owners informed

Trigger

Decision point

Rollback steps

Owner

Latest time to decide

Communication

Reconciliation fails and cannot be fixed in the window

Checkpoint 1

Keep legacy system live; reopen data entry; disable production access

Users told to continue in {{estate.current_crm}}

Critical process fails in smoke test

Checkpoint 2

As above; log defects; replan cutover

Sponsor briefing, user notice

Integration failure affecting orders or billing

Checkpoint 2

Suspend interface; agree manual workaround or roll back

{{estate.erp}} owners informed

Sheet: Hypercare daily checks

Check	Frequency	Owner	Where to look	Escalate when
Integration errors and failed messages	Several times daily	{{roles.integration-lead}}	Middleware or flow run history	Any failure on an order or billing interface
Failed background processes and plug-in errors	Daily	{{roles.platform-administrator}}	System jobs and plug-in trace log	Repeated failures on the same process
Mailbox synchronisation errors	Daily	{{roles.platform-administrator}}	Mailbox status and alerts	Any mailbox failing to sync
Case routing and queue backlog	Daily	{{roles.customer-service-consultant}}	Queues and routing diagnostics	Work not reaching agents
Schedule board and mobile sync issues	Daily	{{roles.field-service-consultant}}	Technician reports, sync errors	Technicians unable to complete jobs
Access and security requests	Daily	{{roles.security-lead}}	Support queue	Any request for elevated access
Usage of key processes by team	Weekly	{{roles.change-lead}}	Adoption reports (aggregated)	A team not using a core process

Check

Frequency

Owner

Where to look

Escalate when

Integration errors and failed messages

Several times daily

Middleware or flow run history

Any failure on an order or billing interface

Failed background processes and plug-in errors

Daily

System jobs and plug-in trace log

Repeated failures on the same process

Mailbox synchronisation errors

Daily

Mailbox status and alerts

Any mailbox failing to sync

Case routing and queue backlog

Daily

Queues and routing diagnostics

Work not reaching agents

Schedule board and mobile sync issues

Daily

Technician reports, sync errors

Technicians unable to complete jobs

Access and security requests

Daily

Support queue

Any request for elevated access

Usage of key processes by team

Weekly

Adoption reports (aggregated)

A team not using a core process

Sheet: Hypercare log

Date

Reported by (team)

Module

Description

Severity

Workaround

Owner

Fix target

Status

HC01

HC02

HC03

Sheet: Hypercare exit

Criterion	Agreed target	Evidence	Approved by
No open critical or high hypercare issues	None open	Hypercare log	{{roles.support-lead}}
Support team handling incidents without project help	Agreed with support lead	Support tickets	{{roles.support-lead}}
Runbooks, known errors and admin documentation handed over	Complete	Handover checklist	{{roles.platform-administrator}}
Adoption tracking in place against success measures	Reporting live	Adoption report	{{roles.change-lead}}
Legacy system decommissioning or archive plan agreed	Plan approved	Plan document	{{roles.process-owner}}

Criterion

Agreed target

Current position

Evidence

Approved by

No open critical or high hypercare issues

None open

Hypercare log

Support team handling incidents without project help

Agreed with support lead

Support tickets

Runbooks, known errors and admin documentation handed over

Complete

Handover checklist

Adoption tracking in place against success measures

Reporting live

Adoption report

Legacy system decommissioning or archive plan agreed

Plan approved

Plan document

Credit: Template from D365Forge by Simon Foote and Robert Peledie (https://github.com/SimonFoote-greensparx/D365Forge), licensed under CC BY 4.0. Keep this credit when you share or adapt the template; in your own completed document you may keep it as a footer or remove it.