T-Minus: go-live, hypercare and T-Plus
What happens on T-0, hypercare from daily to absorbed, T-Plus waves, the artifact catalogue, using the Project Plans workbook, and the deployment checklist from pre-flight to hypercare exit.
T-0: the rehearsed cutover, for real
- Legacy frozen and set read-only at the agreed cut-off time.
- The final Migration Cockpit load — a repeat of the timed dry run.
- Trial balance reconciled and signed by the finance controller.
- Integrations switched to production endpoints.
- Users log in; the first invoice posts in production, usually before lunch.
Artifacts: the Cutover Runbook’s final column, the signed reconciliation, the Hypercare Exception Log opened, and the KPI days-to-first-posted-invoice. See Mock loads, reconciliation and the cutover runbook for the hour-by-hour sequence.
Keep the legacy archive queryable after it goes read-only. Rule 4 depends on history staying available without being migrated.
Hypercare: from daily to absorbed (proposed default)
| When | Cadence | Focus |
|---|---|---|
| T+1 → T+10 | Daily 15-minute standup | Yesterday’s exceptions, fixes, same-day configuration changes |
| T+11 → T+20 | Twice weekly | Trends; preparing the first month-end close |
| T+21 → T+30 | Absorbed | The normal operations rhythm; T-Plus wave planning |
| Exception type | Example | Handled by |
|---|---|---|
| Posting or reconciliation | Unmatched bank line, suspense balance | Finance key user + Ledger Architect |
| User cannot complete a task | Missing permission, unclear step | Adoption Navigator (ASK, role fix) |
| Integration message failed | Bank file rejected | Ops Pilot + partner |
| Configuration change request | A new approval level | Ledger Architect, the same week |
Close hypercare on evidence, not on a calendar date: exceptions below threshold for five working days, the first month-end closed in TRANXACT, and no open critical or high defects.
How this fits the service contract: T-Minus hypercare, T+1 to T+30, is part of the method. Extended post-go-live support with daily check-ins for an agreed period — typically 4 to 8 weeks — is the separately contracted Hypercare package (H1) in the Roles & Responsibilities workbook. After hypercare, the steady-state service described in After go-live: running the service takes over.
T-Plus waves (proposed default)
T-Plus backlog from the Fit Ledger → prioritise with the Countdown Owner → a mini-countdown per wave → rehearse the change → toggle on.
| Source of scope | What it adds |
|---|---|
| Deferred Fit Ledger lines | Every T-Plus line from wave 1, prioritised by value |
| More entities and regions | Additional legal entities, currencies and languages |
| More modules | Manufacturing, EHR, Student Lifecycle, HRMS as toggles |
| Period and archive follow-ups | Additional period balances if a new report needs them |
Plan the first T-Plus wave before hypercare ends, while the countdown team is still together; each wave reuses the same Fit Ledger, plans and artifacts. Growth never triggers a re-implementation, and the measure is modules live per quarter without one.
The artifact catalogue
| Artifact | Created | Owner | Where |
|---|---|---|---|
| Countdown project plan (per source system) | T-27 | Flight Lead | Project Plans · one sheet per source |
| Pre-flight & deployment checklist | Pre-flight | Flight Lead | Toolkit · Deployment Checklist |
| Fit Ledger | T-27 → T-18 | Countdown Owner | Toolkit · Fit Ledger |
| Migration scope decision & object register | T-24 | Migration Conductor | Toolkit · Migration Scope, Object Register |
| Configuration workbook | T-17 → T-11 | Ledger Architect | Toolkit · Configuration Workbook |
| Test plan & scripts | T-17 | Ledger Architect | Toolkit · Test Plan |
| TB & sub-ledger reconciliations | T-10 → T-0 | Finance controller | Toolkit · TB Reconciliation, Sub-ledger Recon |
| Cutover runbook | T-8 | Migration Conductor | Toolkit · Cutover Runbook |
| Rehearsal script & go / no-go gate | T-5 → T-1 | Countdown Owner | Toolkit · Rehearsal Script, Go-No-Go Gate |
| Adoption, change impact, stakeholders, comms | From T-27 | Adoption Navigator | Toolkit · four sheets |
| RAID, countdown board, hypercare log, T-Plus backlog, KPIs | T-27 → T+30 | Flight Lead | Toolkit · five sheets |
Using the Project Plans workbook
- Enter the go-live date and public holidays on the Setup sheet — every task date is then calculated in working days from its T-day.
- Keep the sheets for the customer’s source systems; delete the others, and duplicate a sheet for any second instance (e.g. two company-code groups).
- Assign owners — the TRANXACT crew and the customer — and track status per task.
- Read the Dashboard daily: working days to go-live, tasks done and overdue per source, gate status across all sources.
The deployment checklist
| Pre-flight | Discover (T-27→T-18) | Configure (T-17→T-11) | Gate T-11 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Contract & audited revenue | Key users in their roles | Structure & money configured | All Configure-now done |
| Go-live date on the board | Fit Ledger tagged & signed | Roles & approvals | T-Plus list agreed |
| Countdown Owner & Flight Lead | Migration scope per object | Master data via ASK | M1 mapping signed |
| Tenant provisioned, SSO | Change impact first pass | Integrations & queues | Test plan complete |
| Legacy extract access | Comms T-27 & T-18 sent | Configuration checks passed | Rehearsal roles known |
| Cutover (T-10→T-3) | Rehearsal (T-2→T-1) | Go-live (T-0) | Hypercare (T+1→T+30) |
|---|---|---|---|
| M1 and M2 loaded | Real day scripted | Legacy frozen & read-only | Daily exception standup |
| Zero TB delta, sub-ledgers tie | Every T+1 user took part | Final load reconciled & signed | First month-end closed |
| Integration & role tests | Results match legacy | Production endpoints live | KPIs recorded |
| Dry run timed in window | Fix list closed same day | Users enabled, comms sent | T-Plus wave 1 planned |
| Continuity check done | GO recorded with evidence | First invoice posted | Hypercare exit signed |
What day do we go live? The question was never how long the project will take. Agree the date and name the Countdown Owner; complete pre-flight and start the clock at T-27; copy the source-system sheets you need; run every standup from the board; let the rehearsal decide.
Values marked proposed default are the methodology’s recommended starting points. Confirm each one per engagement; the contract, order form and SLA prevail.