Playbook for Remote Cutover S4H_747 How to Approach Remote Cutover.pptx

PUBLIC
SAP Activate Accelerator
February 14, 2023
Playbook for Remote Cutover

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INTERNAL – SAP and Partners Only
Purpose of This Playbook
SAP Activate Methodology Accelerator
The purpose of this accelerator is to guide how to execute an SAP
project remotely in situations where onsite or face-to-face delivery
needs to be greatly reduced or is not possible. The term “Remote
Cutover,” used in this document, means “using the same high-
quality expert resources to deliver the defined project outcomes and
deliverables from a location other than the customer’s site”.
Please Note: It is intended to be used by SAP delivery leaders on all SAP projects in conjunction with normal processes and
guidelines such as SAP Activate methodology and existing SAP project delivery toolsets

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1. Remote Cutover Overview
2. Playbook
 Remote Cutover Planning
 Remote Dress Rehearsal
 Remote Final Cutover Execution
 Post-cutover Activities
3. Feedback
Structure of the Remote Cutover Playbook Document

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Ingredients for successful Remote Cutover
“Can Do” Attitude
Collaborative Spirit
Reliable technology, communication
tools and network
Swarming to resolve problems
Diligent and Detailed Planning
Clear roles and responsibilities
Sponsorship Engagement
Pro-active risk management
Tell it like it is
Know SAP go-to-contacts per
cutover activity / task
No finger pointing,
solution-oriented mindset
Be pragmatic in dealing with
unexpected changes
Open communication; one stop shop for
team contact details

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Remote Cutover Overview
Alignment to SAP Activate Phases
Deploy
Realize
Explore
Discover Prepare
Onboard and
Deploy
Scope and
Configure
Migrate, Integrate,
Test
Fit-to-Standard
Analysis
Extend
Setup and
Enablement
Discovery
Assessment
Remote Production
Cutover & Go-Live
Go/No-go Decision
Plan and Prepare for Remote
Cutover
Remote Dress
Rehearsal(s)
Run
Post-cutover
Activities &
Business Adoption
• Fine tune remote cutover plan
based on real cutover activities
(including non-SAP vendors)
• Identify and resolve issues
before final cutover
• Ensure dependencies are
understood and hand overs are
well managed
• Allow sufficient time for
complete dress rehearsal
• Document resolution of all
issues for cutover
• Ensure support for business
users (off-site and on-site)
• Monitor and resolve issues
• Monitor and report adoption
metrics
• Key users and customer
operations team running the
system
• Celebrate Success!
• Assess risk for productive
cutover
• Cutover project manager to
make a go/no-go
recommendation
• Productive Cutover decision
(go/no-go)
• Execute remote cutover to
production environment
• Stay current with cutover
progress
• Set status to done after
completion of your action
• Trigger next action via agreed
process
• Business validation per activity
to confirm green status
• Start business operations in
the new system
• Assess readiness for remote
cutover
• Prepare remote cutover plan
and make it accessible to all
parties involved in cutover
• Prepare resources plan,
ensure resources availability
and backups. Identify who will
be on-site and who will be off-
site.
• Identify risks and define
management plans
• Align team around common
vision, plan, timeline
• Establish efficient cutover team
communications (changes,
hand-offs, progress, …)
• Coordinate with OCM team for
Change Readiness
assessment activities
Innovate,
Operate, Support

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Project sponsor and
key business decision
makers that can be called
upon to support execution
of cutover project. This
group will make a
final decision for business
go-live at the conclusion of
cutover (and start of hyper-
care). This group serves as
the escalation body for fast
resolution of issues
Manages the change
readiness checks and
executes planned OCM
activities and
communications and
monitors end-user
adoption.
Typically staffed by
Customer team
members.
In many customer
projects, SAP system
is integrated with
other non-SAP
systems.
Participation of
representatives from
vendors of such
systems is critical
for cutover success in
case interface or
integration
issues need to be
resolved.
Consultants,
technical experts
from system
integrator (SAP or
SAP partner) are in
charge of delivering
customer cutover
project. SI team
usually also have a
sponsor that
participates in daily
calls and drives
resolution of issues
that are escalated.
OCM Team
System Integrator
Team(SI)
Cutover Customer
Team
Cutover Project
Manager (PM)
Non-SAP
Vendors
Sponsors and Business
Decision Maker
Responsible for
planning, coordination
and execution of
cutover activities. In
many cases cutover
PM role is staffed by
customer and SI
forming a power
couple.
SAP Application SMEs, key
users, select business users and
IT personnel (technology, system
support, etc.) executing
and supporting the execution
of cutover activities including
data loads, system checks,
business transaction processing
and data validation.
Some customer cutover team
members may be required on-
site during the entire or parts
of cutover execution. Typically,
roles that cannot be performed
remotely could include
warehouse clerks, manufacturing
supervisors, etc.
Key Implementation Roles
Key Roles and Responsibilities

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Reliable Tools Supporting Remote Cutover
Project teams planning remote cutover should decide on specific collaboration tools the team will use
to communicate and share information. In general following categories of tools should be considered:
 Video Conferencing & Chat
 Team Collaboration & Whiteboards
 Document Storage / Team Collaboration
 ALM (Application Lifecycle Management) Tools
 Team Enablement / Training
 Pulse Check Tools (like Qualtrics or polling/survey tools)
Project leads need to assess the suitability of any particular tool depending on each project and
customer situation in conjunction with appropriate technical experts and the customer IT organization.
NOTES:
• Tools suggested by customers need to be checked for potential data protection & security issues
• Tools agreed to must be trialed on all user computers (Customer, SAP, and Partners) for compatibility before the final
decision

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Tools for Remote Cutover - SAMPLE
Recommended Key Tools for Remote Cutover Planning and Execution
Microsoft Teams (Cloud Storage)
• Video Conferencing
• Document storage and
collaboration
• Discussions and chats around
topics
MURAL (Collaboration Tool)
• Virtual White board
• Collaboration real-time
• Templates for various working
sessions
SAP Activate Cutover Template
• Execute tasks per the cutover
plan
• Template

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Get Ready for Remote Cutover : Pulse Check
In order to ensure all participants are ready for the Remote Cutover Activities ensure the following :
Video Conferencing Check
 Install the video conferencing software recommended by your project team
 Setup the software to allow access to your microphone and camera
 Setup headphones that you will use for the duration of the workshop to prevent echo
 Check your connectivity with another colleague to ensure the software works
 Learn how to mute/un-mute your line and remember the steps for the workshop
 Raise support ticket with your IT organization in case you encounter any issues
Collaboration Tools Check
 Install collaboration software on your machine - your project manager will provide details about the software
that is required for you to have available on your computer
 Check access to the shared folders in the collaboration software
 Raise support ticket with your IT organization in case you encounter any issues
Working environment preparation
 If possible, make the following changes to your working environment to make it more comfortable for working
with colleagues remotely:
 Consider getting second monitor and physical keyboard to improve prolonged use
 Definitely get a pair of headphones or earphones you can use during the conference calls, using
computer speaker and microphone will result in echo for other participants
 Setup your work environment in dedicated room or dedicated space in your home, if that's not possible
consider to use place that has the least traffic from and best acoustic
 Select comfortable and ergonomic chair to make your working sessions comfortable even if they are
prolonged

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The project teams planning the cutover activities must ensure they complete
all previous deliverables and tasks before they proceed with cutover:
• Major part of cutover is data migration and data loads; all data migration
code and testing must be completed and ready for production use before
cutover start.
• All functional testing, integration testing and user acceptance testing must
be finished and all go-live critical issues must be addressed before cutover
start.
• There must be no further configuration, extensibility or integration activities
in process. All building, testing, extensibility and integration work must be
completed before cutover start.
Cutover Prerequisites

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The cutover preparation activities do not belong just to the project team. Business preparation
activities are usually required to support a project cutover.
Business preparation and cutover tasks may require onsite engagement even with a remote
delivery and cutover model.
Business cutover preparation activities can include:
Business Cutover Preparation
• Business activities to prepare for the actual cutover; such as closing out orders and deliveries,
performing stock-taking etc.
• Communication to and engagement with external business partners for preparation and actual
cutover tasks
• Activities to reduce the risk of adverse impact to key business operations during and post cutover
• Business verification testing during cutover; including physical devices such as printers, RF
scanners etc.

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Remote Delivery Experience
 Assess the current level of experience and exposure to
remote working across the organization and project team
 Assess the experience of the customer working with
external parties whilst leveraging remote delivery tools and
practices
 Assess the current level of expertise in using IT
collaboration tools
 Re-enforce with cutover team how to communicate
effectively within virtual meeting and outline etiquette for
virtual work.
 Encourage direct communication and phone calls, direct
chat for quicker actions. This can be done as a townhall
session for entire cutover team.
Remote Cutover Readiness Assessment
Remote Delivery Readiness
Culture
 Consider the culture of the project and
organization in supporting a remote cutover
 Consider the decision making processes;
including hierarchy, speed, review cycles etc.
 Consider the project’s and organization’s
agility and ability to adapt to new “norms”
including past performances

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 The production cutover schedule
must contain time slack for the
resolution of issues that the dress
rehearsal did not report.
 All identified risks must have an
action plan (mitigation steps,
acceptance or avoidance of cutover
risk
 During dress rehearsal fine tune the
cutover schedule, including sequence /
dependencies and timing of specific
actions.
 Leverage all cutover planning and execution templates from the SAP Activate methodology
Roadmap Viewer.
 Your cutover plan needs to be detailing out specific activities and actions, the
responsible person for executing the task and supporting personnel.
 In large projects, structure cutover plan by area, but ensure integrated nature is not lost –
cross-area dependencies need to be understood by the cutover team. However, you should
maintain ONE master cutover plan.
 Cutover plan and timing MUST be reviewed with all cutover team members, key
stakeholders, and adjusted with their feedback. Mainly focus on the sequence, dependencies,
and risks. It must contain cutover business validation tasks (e.g., data migration, manual
master data setup) and go/no-go criteria for business go-live.
 Run at least one dry run simulation of the cutover schedule with the whole cutover team
present. During this walkthrough the team will go over the activities and task line-by-line to
understand the flow and exchange points. This dry run serves as the final cutover plan review
before cutover dress rehearsal
Cutover Plan Readiness

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 All cutover team members should have appropriate access
to the production system (in line with customer security
and access policies).
 Consider cutover support personnel location, time-zone
and any service level agreements
 Cutover team must be composed of customer personnel,
SI personnel and 3rd party personnel for any integrated
systems (e.g. tax reporting solution, scanning or printing
SW/HW, etc.).
 Ensure that all cutover team members will be available
during the dress rehearsal(s) and production cutover time
(these activities are typically done during weekends).
 Indicate which personnel will be working off-site and who
will be on-site (note that some jobs like shipping, printing
delivery slips to include in the shipment will have to be
done on-site).
Processes and Governance
 Consider the Project and Organization structure, processes
and governance to effectively manage a remote cutover
 Involve customer, SAP and other vendor sponsors in the
cutover process, with clear and defined communications and
escalation paths .
 Assess any changes and impacts to the organization and
external partners; i.e. health and safety, workplace regulations
 Consult with key stakeholders (internal and external) for remote
cutover; i.e. HR, IT, labor unions etc.
 Ensure you are in compliance with current country / state /
region regulations (e.g. compliance with what is considered
essential employee allowed to work on-site).
 Consider cutover issue and defect management processes and
systems; including accessibility regardless of location
Organizational Readiness
People

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IT / Technology Partners
 Assess impact on IT / Technology
partners to support remote cutover
model; including resourcing, IT
infrastructure, IT enablers and tools
 Assess changes to agreements and
proposals with IT / Technology partners
Collaboration Enablers and Tools
 Assess current IT enablers and tools to
support remote cutover
 Identify changes and additions to the
IT enablers and tools to support remote
cutover
 Consider installation effort and
timeline for any changes and additions
to IT enablers and tools
 Identify user requirements for the IT
enablers and tools; including training,
user access etc.
 video conferencing is integral for off-
site delivery for emulating team’s co-
location; such as daily “Stand-Ups” etc.
IT Infrastructure
 Assess current IT infrastructure to
support remote cutover
 Assess ability to scale IT
infrastructure
 Assess the team’s IT capabilities for
remote work including; laptops, internet
access and bandwidth
 Assess any information and IT
security risks and challenges
 Identify potential impacts and
constraints for data privacy
understanding what specific items apply
IT / Technology Assessment

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Readiness Reporting
 Utilize a dashboard style readiness tracker
(1 slide / page) that can be easily updated
and viewed by multiple teams (remote and
onsite) in regular review calls
 Provide Red-Amber-Green (RAG) Rating to
each thread / team that feed into the final
cutover decision
 Monitor the cutover readiness for each
thread / team regularly, providing an
updated RAG status for each review
 Provide a target date for each thread /
team to “Get to Green”
Decision Making
 Decision Making for cutover is not simply at
a final Go / No Go meetings but is weeks /
months in advance
 Leverage a cutover assessment process to
monitor progress to a final cutover with
advance time to rectify issues
 Assess the readiness of business, project
and external parties to the “march” to
cutover
 Clear criteria to be established for each
cutover readiness checkpoint evaluation
 Remote and onsite teams attend regular
progress meetings and assess cutover
readiness on the prescribed criteria
Cutover Readiness Checkpoints
 Establish a set of readiness checkpoints
weeks / months from cutover
 Cutover checkpoints to monitor readiness
across all business and project inputs to a
final cutover decision
 Incorporate the cutover checkpoints into
the overall project plan and detail cutover
plans
 A cutover checkpoint process supports a
remote project team – with a highly visible
and fact-based assessment for a cutover
 Inputs are captured from all teams (remote
or onsite) covering aspects such as
business preparation, communications, IT
technical, change management, data
migration, testing etc.
Cutover Readiness and Decision Making
Establish a visible and fact-based Cutover Assessment to support dispersed teams

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Remote Cutover Planning
Common Templates and Tools for Collaboration Checklist
It is suggested to review the following tools and determine with the cutover team which tool will be used for which of
the following scenarios :
 SAP Best Practices Explorer: for SAP Best Practices
documentation (test scripts, process diagrams, et.) Link
 Roadmap Viewer: for implementation roadmap and
implementation accelerators like cutover plan template. Link
 Collaboration Tools: Screen sharing + video
conferencing tool (ex. Teams, Google Meet, Skype for
Business, Slack, etc.)
 Communication Tools: for wide-spread messaging to
the cutover team, to the project team and to the
executive team (ex. MS Teams, E-mail distribution list,
SMS text messaging system (depending on country
providers), etc.)
 Tool to capture the following (one tool or multiple can be
used to fulfill):
 Key Decisions
 Action Items (ex. Word or Excel)
 Notes/Meeting Minutes
 Cloud storage tool: for sharing documents
 Pulse Check tool: for checking in with participants during the
project delivery (ex Qualtrics, Mentimeter, etc.)

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 Cutover Dress Rehearsal and Execution should only be done after End-to-end Integration Test and User
Acceptance Test (UAT)
 Dress rehearsal should be done with the entire cutover team (including non-SAP vendors).
 During dress rehearsal use common open video conference / call to coordinate cutover plan activities –
cutover project manager runs the video conference / call. This meeting is to coordinate activities, identify
issues and drive their resolution.
 For larger footprint cutover you may need multiple open calls / video conferences to coordinate activities
in areas without dependencies.
 The cutover team needs to embrace mindset of swarming on problems and resolving them
collaboratively.
 During dress rehearsal fine tune the cutover schedule, including sequence / dependencies and timing of
specific actions.
 Final cutover plan and timing MUST be reviewed with all cutover team members, key stakeholders before
cutover weekend.
 All identified risks must have an action plan (mitigation steps, acceptance or avoidance of cutover risk).
 Run a dry run simulation of the war room with the whole cutover team present. During the walkthrough,
the team will go over the setup of the war room, communication channels, and responsibilities to
understand the flow and exchange points before it's actual usage during cutover.
Remote Cutover: Dress Rehearsal

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Remote Production Cutover Execution
Pulse Check
 Availability for entire duration of the cutover process (”soft” go-live, production
cutover, post-cutover).
 Access to contact numbers for all team members for the cutover weekend
 Confirm understanding and access to the Cutover Plan.
 Technology and network bandwidth check for access to the cutover tools and
video conference.
 For on-site cutover team members (for example warehouse staff, core IT staff,
etc.), ensure compliance with safety and security requirements + make sure they
have access to the facility during the cutover duration.
Prior to the Remote Production Cutover, do a pulse check with all of the cutover team members to ensure the following:

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 Daily "open cutover video call" with cutover team members is an effective approach to emulate co-
location of an offsite team with individual "breakout" sessions for specific discussions topics points
and issue resolution. The cutover PM oversees running this activity.
 Run daily beginning-of-day and end-of-day meetings to review progress and communicate issues.
All cutover team members must attend.
 Cutover team consists of customer, system integrators (SI) and other vendors, all are available
during the cutover execution either full time or on-call as needed.
 Cutover task coordination and reporting is even more important with remote teams. It is a good
practice to setup central tracking of the cutover plan execution and issues resolution (chat
channel, video conference).
 Central storage and ease of visibility of the cutover plan are essential factors for maintaining tight
hand offs between offsite team members; leveraging collaboration tools in conjunction with email.
 Collaborative atmosphere and swarming around issues to address them are key tactics to support
offsite team's effectiveness.
 Cutover team members must be adequately trained and skilled on the cutover processes and
tools including team collaboration prior to the commencement of cutover.
Execution of Remote Production Cutover
Proven Practices for Execution of Remote Production Cutover

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 Some SAP customers run a “soft” go-live with pre-defined set of business processes, products in a part of
their business to check that the system works properly before full business go-live.
 “Soft” go-live adds more safety to the cutover process and allows the business to test various critical
processes on sub-set of data. For example shipping specific products from warehouse to fulfill direct
customer order: receiving an order via on-line store, credit card processing, picking the order, packaging,
printing shipping label, accounting.
 “Soft” go-live should be decided early in the project and documented in the Cutover Strategy document.
You should especially consider the impact of parallel systems running (if required - legacy and SAP) in
cases when new SAP system replaces existing legacy application. Make sure you consider the impact of
parallel operations on business data integrity and data migration strategy.
 Ensure the combination of positive and negative tests are executed to check for exceptional conditions
during the “soft” go-live.
 Resolve issues as they are identified, coordinate through the central cutover coordination video call outlined
in the previous slide.
 Plan sufficient time for “soft” go-live to test broad range of processes and situations. You will encounter
issues; allow time for solving them.
 At the end of the “soft” go-live the cutover project manager will make go/no-go recommendations to
customer and SAP sponsors.
 If it is decided to go-live, cutover team will bring business users into the system following this decision.
Typically the next business day after the weekend “soft” go-live.
Execution of Remote Production Cutover
“Soft” go-live

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Remote Cutover Timeline
Example of cutover weekend timeline
Friday Saturday Sunday
60 min.
Cutover project team including customer
key users
• Cutover weekend kick-off call
• Execution readiness Pulse Check
• Official go for cutover execution
30-60 min.
key users (sponsor optional)
• Pulse check
• Share issues detected
• Share how they got solved
• Provide documentation
30 min.
key users
• Morning briefing
• Cutover team Pulse Check
• Open issues / Resolution Progress
• Cutover execution continues
30 min.
key users
• Morning briefing
• Cutover team Pulse Check
• Open issues / Resolution Progress
• Cutover execution continues
Open video conference room during the day
monitored by cutover PM for coordination and
issues resolution; access to centrally stored
cutover plan
30-60 min.
Cutover project team including
customer key users, sponsor,
business leaders and steering group
members
• Review of Readiness for business go-live
• Formal go-live (go / no-go) decision by
sponsor, steering and business decision
makers
• Formal communication to business users
cutover plan
cutover plan
30-60 min.
key users (sponsor optional)
• Pulse check

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Coordination between cutover teams through central virtual war room
Example
Central Remote Cutover War Room
(open video conference call and dedicated channel for chat)
Responsible: Cutover PM
Dedicated
communication
channel / video
conference for OtC
(as needed)
Report back / Escalate issues
Status/progress
updates in central
cutover plan
Discussion channel
Whiteboarding
Tool
Central video conference
* Cutover Plan is stored
here and updated regularly
Dedicated
communication
channel / video
conference for DM
(as needed)
Dedicated
communication
channel / video
conference for FICO
(as needed)
Dedicated
communication
channel / video
conference for
others (as needed)
Cutover
Plan*
Permanent throughout cutover period Formed when needed to address issues or to
complete major cutover activities
Central Files
Storage*
Order-to-Cash Data Migration FI/CO
Other data objects
or work streams
Responsible: O2C Team
Leads
Responsible: DM Team
Leads
Responsible: Finance
Team Leads
Responsible:
<Respective work
stream lead>
Responsible Team
Status/progress
updates in central
cutover plan

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• Establish a process for addressing adoption issues that end users identify during the first days and weeks of
using the system – leverage existing customer tools for IT ticketing or SAP Solution Manager.
• Ensure business users know who to contact with questions – customer key business users should be
available to help address adoption issues.
• Business user issue-reporting and escalation processes must be defined, and all required tools must be in
place and available to business end users.
• Setup a DAILY video conference to focus on providing business process owners and IT organization with
platform to discuss top issues for resolution.
• DAILY monitor key business metrics that are indicative of the system use by end users (e.g. # of received /
processed orders, # of invoices, # of shipments, # daily active users, etc.), and report on these metrics to
project stakeholders and OCM team.
• Be prepared to handle CRITICAL situations – the system is running customer business, cutover team needs
to react with urgency to any disruption and mobilize required help from SAP and other vendors.
• Use Customer Operational Support team to address most of the issues found during the stabilization period.
Customers should only lean on consulting resources when operational support can’t address the issue on
their own.
• SI consulting support to customer operational support team can be provided remotely if necessary.
• Define and follow process for raising SAP support tickets for software issues. Monitor the raised tickets and
follow-up with SAP Support.
Post-cutover System Adoption by Business
Proven Practices for Adoption of the New System by the Business Users

25
Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday
Post-cutover System Adoption by Business
Example for remote hyper-care for first go-live week
30 min.
SI Project team +
customer key users
• Daily morning briefing
• Pulse check of system
issues
• Align on meetings
30-60 min.
SI Project Team,
Customer CoE, Key
Users
• Pulse check
• Share how they got
solved
30 min.
SI Project team +
customer key users
issues
30min.
SI Project team +
customer key users
issues
30 min.
SI Project team +
customer key users
issues
• Align on meetings 30min.
SI Project team +
customer key users
issues
Open conference
room during the day
30-60 min.
SI Project Team,
Customer CoE, Key
Users
• Pulse check
30-60 min.
SI Project Team,
Customer CoE, Key
Users
• Pulse check
Open conference
room during the day
Open conference
room during the day
Open conference
room during the day
Open conference
room during the day

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Formally recognize the success
 Formally announce success to all stakeholders after the
hyper-care period
 Remember to include cutover and success metrics (such
as....migration statistics, timelines, business metrics after
go-live), team member names and recognition of
everybody’s contribution
 Consider sending cutover team members an award or
token of appreciation
• Some organizations have systems in place to recognize
contributions; if one is not available, coordinate with the
Project Manager and Sponsor on alternative plan
 Consider running a survey with cutover team to collect
suggestions for future cutover process improvements
Bring the team together one last time
 Schedule an open call with all cutover participants
(customer, system integrator, other suppliers)
 Ask participants to bring their own drink and snack to the
celebration
 If you have participants on-site ensure you comply with
safety regulations
 Formally thank the cutover team for their hard work
 Share key cutover metrics and success metrics
 Let the team openly share their cutover stories and
experiences
Celebrate Success
Don’t forget to celebrate successful cutover

Thank you.
Contact information:
© 2023 SAP SE or an SAP affiliate company. All rights reserved. See Legal Notice on www.sap.com/legal-notice for use terms, disclaimers, disclosures, or restrictions related to SAP Materials for general audiences.
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