Lesson 4 of 5
Hypercare triage
8 min
Hypercare is the period of intensified support right after go-live, often several weeks, until the system runs stably and support moves to the normal run organization. Key users are its front line: they sit with users, answer questions and decide what goes to the project team. The most valuable skill in hypercare is triage: quickly sorting each issue into the right category so it reaches the right person.
Four categories
| Category | What it means | Contoso example | Who resolves |
|---|---|---|---|
| Training | The system works as designed; the user does not know how | A sales rep cannot find how to release a blocked order that releases correctly when done properly | Key user coaches; work instruction updated |
| Data | Master or migrated data is wrong or missing | A customer has the wrong payment terms, so due dates are 15 days early | Data owner corrects; check for similar records |
| Configuration | Settings do not match the agreed design, including roles and authorizations | A billing clerk lacks the app to release billing blocks | Project team changes configuration or role through change control |
| Defect | The solution does not work as designed, such as a failing custom development or interface | A custom price check rejects valid orders for CMC-ALT-100 | Project team fixes, tests and transports |
Triage questions
- Can someone who knows the process do it correctly in the system?Yes → training: coach, and update the work instruction · No → next question
- Is the problem limited to specific records (a customer, a product)?Yes → data: correct the record and look for others like it · No → next question
- Does the system behave differently from the signed-off design?Yes → configuration if a setting or role, defect if code or an interface · No → next question
- Is the user asking for something the design never included?Yes → change request: log it for the governance forum · No → escalate for analysis
Writing a good ticket
A ticket that says "billing does not work" costs an hour of phone calls. Key users should log, or help users log, tickets that can be acted on immediately:
- What the user tried to do, in business terms, and the app or transaction.
- The document numbers involved: order, delivery, billing document.
- The exact message text and number.
- Expected versus actual result.
- Business impact: how many users, orders or amounts, and whether a workaround exists.
- The triage category and the key user's reasoning.
Spotting patterns
Individual tickets are noise; patterns are signals. If eight sales reps raise the same question in a day, that is a training gap, and the fix is a five-minute stand-up and an updated instruction, not eight separate answers. If several tickets mention customers created in the same week before cutover, it is a data issue affecting a group of records. If a scenario that was never in the test scope keeps failing, it is a missed test: the defect exists because nobody tried that path.
The hypercare rhythm
Run hypercare to a daily rhythm. A short morning stand-up reviews new tickets by category and impact, the oldest open tickets, and any pattern spotted the day before. Key users bring what they saw on the floor, which is often more than what was logged. Track a few simple measures: tickets opened and closed per day, open tickets by category and age, and the share of training issues. A falling ticket count with a growing share of training questions means the system is stabilizing and the remaining work is coaching.
Hypercare ends against agreed exit criteria, not on a calendar date alone: for example, no open critical issues, ticket volume back to a normal level for two weeks, the first month-end close completed, and the run organization ready to take over. Key users help judge whether the business really feels stable.
What would you do?
In Contoso's first week, seven tickets report that invoices for different fleet customers show the wrong tax amount. Each customer is in a different US state. All seven were raised as "data" by different users. What should Maria do?
- Hypercare is intensified support after go-live; key users are the front line.
- Triage each issue as training, data, configuration or defect; new wishes are change requests.
- Good tickets include documents, messages, expected vs actual and impact.
- Look for patterns: repeated questions, groups of records, untested paths.
- Feed missed tests into the regression pack.
Check your understanding · not graded
Lesson check
1. Many users ask how to release a blocked order, and it works when done correctly. How is this classified?
2. A billing clerk cannot see the app needed to release billing blocks. Which category fits best?
3. What does a defect in a path that was never tested suggest?
4. A user asks for a new report the design never included. What is it?