Build a Transition Book

Martin looked at the stack of printouts and his own notebook and wondered if any more information could possibly come in before the transition could take place. He had collected and learned an amazing amount of information. The book could be enhanced by everyone on the team.

Jason knew the transition book he needed to prepare. It was the type of transition book that you would rarely want to make. This transition book was the closing of the pilot. The pilot needed to be safely decommissioned and the workstations reconfigured to their original settings.

The Methodology

Once a go decision has been made, the stakeholders need to step back and let the project progress. While it is ideal to keep the same project management team, the responsibility of deployment now rests with the production portion of the IT group. It is this group 's mandate to get solutions deployed. They are the experts on deploying systems and need to make their own deployment decisions. The last deliverable by the stakeholders and project management team is a transition book. The transition book needs to include the following information:

• All known biometric system configurations ” This needs to include any and all system parameters and server configurations. What access rights are required and where the software and hardware can be found also need to be documented.

• All desktop incompatibilities ” During the pilot, certain desktop incompatibilities will be found. These need to be documented and workarounds identified. Since the deployment is being taken over by production, there may be changes in the environment that can be made to allow the deployment to be easier.

• Documentation of the automated installs ” It is most likely that the pilot automated installs were built with input from the production group, so the group is probably quite familiar with them. It is still proper form to document them and to communicate where on the network they are located.

• A list of frequently asked questions ” The frequently asked questions from the POC and pilot will aid the production group in the rollout. These are the questions that the group needs to be most aware of, and in turn , the group can leverage the collected experience of everyone.

• The knowledge repository ” During the pilot, a support knowledge repository is built. This is invaluable technical information that the production group can use. It can again provide information about the environment and workarounds used.

• Training courses ” A training course needs to be created for the production group and delivered at the group's request.

• Tips and tricks ” During the POC and pilot, certain "trade" knowledge will be developed. This information includes the undocumented items that will make deployment easier. For example, this could include third-party tools for troubleshooting, changes that can be made to user systems to make them run better, or adjustments that can be made to make the deployment experience better.

• Recommendations for deployment and for the next project ” The collected knowledge from the POC and pilot needs to be surveyed for recommendations for a successful rollout and to determine what changes should be made to the project framework for the next project.