Cutover and go-live readiness
18 months of build, decided in the last 10 days. I help you run the window like it decides the program, because it does: the freeze, the mock runs, the go/no-go, the command center, the rollback call, and the first payroll.
Enterprise platforms are proven. What decides the outcome is how you cut over: whether the data reconciles, whether the freeze holds, whether the go decision is driven by evidence or by a date, and whether anyone has actually defined the rollback. The public post-mortems are rarely about the software. They are about a go-live that opened before it was ready.
I sit on your side of the window. Independent, client-side, with no stake in hitting a date that keeps a vendor's revenue plan intact. The work is to engineer readiness so the go-live holds, and to make sure the one immovable event, usually the first payroll or the first close, is protected above everything else.
The shift I createTen areas, worked before the window opens.
Each one is a place where cutovers quietly go wrong, and where a little discipline before go-live saves the weekend.
Cutover ownership & plan
One named owner, and two documents: the freeze schedule and the cutover plan.
Tenant strategy & gold build
Dated gold-build and validation milestones, and a signed move-to-production gate.
Data conversion
Iterative mock conversions, three-layer reconciliation, financials tied to the penny.
The freeze
Continue, soft, or hard, per item, by process, with an owner and a workaround.
Mock cutovers & runbook
Two full rehearsals at the real times, and a runbook anyone can execute.
Testing & payroll parallel
Clean parallel in cycles gating the gold build, no open critical defect at go-live.
Readiness & go/no-go
Five domains with evidence, a scorecard with hard gates, no-go conditions pre-agreed.
Command center & weekend
A time-based rhythm, one issue queue, and a rehearsed weekend sequence.
Rollback & contingency
Pre-agreed triggers, one decision authority, and legacy kept alive to make it real.
Hypercare & first close
Tiered support, exit criteria, and the first payroll protected above all.
The full field guide, and a toolkit for the window.
The cutover field guide
All 10 areas in depth, with real, anonymized examples, the big-bang vs. phased call, and the one move that matters most in each area.
Read the guideThe cutover readiness toolkit
A readiness and go/no-go checklist across all 10 areas, plus a pitfall-by-area quick reference. Built to keep beside the cutover plan.
Download the toolkit (PDF)The red-flag checklist
The avoidable moves that sink most go-lives, with the fix for each, inside the guide.
See the red flags →Put independent eyes on your cutover.
If you are weeks out from a Workday or ERP go-live, a candid readiness review before the window is the cheapest insurance you will buy.