Week 7 of 8
Go-live readiness and cutover
Microsoft’s go-live readiness list is short and specific: signed-off system integration, user acceptance and performance testing; a signed-off cutover plan; trained users with the right security roles; and mitigation of the critical findings from earlier reviews. For Finance and Operations, production is not released until Microsoft completes a go-live assessment.
The meetings that go well are the ones where the evidence was collected before anyone sat down. The ones that go badly are where "ready" gets defined in the room.
This week: build the runbook and the evidence pack
- Build the hour-by-hour cutover runbook from your mock timings: owner, predecessor, planned and actual duration, validation, and a marked point of no return.
- Map each readiness criterion to its evidence: SIT and UAT completion, performance results on Tier 4/5, reconciled final mock, role assignments, support plan.
- Mark which criteria are blocking. A red blocking item is a no-go unless someone with authority accepts it in writing.
- Circulate the checklist 48 hours ahead so owners update their own items.
Number of the week
Before production
is when Microsoft runs the finance and operations go-live assessment; production is not available until it is done, so most testing must already be complete.
Source: Microsoft Learn, environment strategy guidanceUse this week
- Go/No-Go Readiness Checklist →
Criteria with thresholds, blocking flags and an automatic recommendation.
- Cutover Plan & Runbook →
Hour-by-hour tasks with predecessors, owners, timings, validations and the point of no return.
- Hypercare Plan & Exit Criteria (Word) →
So hypercare ends on evidence, and the first service update is already planned.
Next week, the last of the playbook: staying current with four updates a year, and what replaces RSAT.
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