The Art of a Cutover Plan (Part 3)

Welcome to the third installment of 

“The Art of a Cutover Plan”

Ok, Quick Recap (Click here for part 1,  Here for part 2): 

We have our Structure that we will follow in order to create our Plan:

The structure consists of a Beginning/Middle/End otherwise referred to as phases, and within each phase we have two distinct types of milestones that delineate specific important events within our plan. The first being a completion of specific tasks and the second being specific points in time within the plan.  The second part of a creating a cutover plan was defining what Information our tasks Needed to track.

Now that we have the structure, it is time to actually build the plan around the identified milestones.  I will be using an excel spreadsheet to track and manage our plan. For today, our simple plan will be moving a server from one location to another. Our assumptions are that any pre-migration activities have been completed and we’re a go for this particular cutover. 

Now the idea of this plan is to be able to see the structure and flow of how to create something that is probably much more complex in your own environment.   Keep in mind, the process is the same no matter how complex the plan.   So based on the need to move a single server from one room across campus to a new server room, the assumption is that we will have completed testing plans In regards to both the infrastructure as well as any applications that live on the server.  In our plan we will reference initiation of testing plans however the completion and build out of those plans will have done prior to the migration.  

The first thing we have done is to define our Milestones.  Now I have used the Task Type to help me filter all "M" (Milestone) tasks as well as “C” (Communication) tasks to show my communication plan.

 

So the basis of our plan has Both types of milestones that occur in all phases Of our migration plan.  In this example there are three milestones that have hard start times and two milestones that have dependent start times.

The next thing you do is to insert tasks based upon when the need to occur in the plan, either in front of or after any of these defined milestones.  Keeping in mind you should note any communications that need to be sent out as well.  After you have thoroughly gone through and defined all the tasks that need to be accomplished, go back through your plan and add the specifics and resources that will be completing those tasks while validating with those resources the duration and dependencies of each task.  This will give you a very complete and robust plan.  You should continue to have meetings and review your plan with the resources that are listed on the plan until you get to a point where everyone agrees that there are no other tasks that need to be added or modified.

By completing all of the fields (columns) in your plan, you will be able to filter for your other types of tasks such as a communication tasks that will be able to make up your communication plan:

We should know the how, when and what is being communicated, as well as who is doing the communication.

Now this plan is a very simple illustration of a server move, however It does show you the process you can go through to create a very in-depth plan. This plan I created here is a 30 step (task) plan.  My normal plans go from 250 tasks to over 400 depending upon the complexity.  The very complex usually reference other plans that another PM lead is responsible for and I just reference the time frames of key items in their plan that impact mine.  Here is a picture of the full plan:

Plan Execution!!!

As you actually go through the plan, completing tasks and informing team members of start triggers, you should be monitoring the status of the overall plan.  In order to do this, you have to track the original start times and expected durations.  By doing this you can track if an individual task is running late, as well as if the plan is being brought in earlier than expected. This helps in managing resources and preparing the testing teams to potentially come in early or late depending on what is happening.

Communications and status updates:

There is  usually a bridge that is open during the migration for direct resources doing the work.  There can be a secondary bridge used for status updates and con calls as needed.  During the migration, you should send out status updates to stakeholders and team members. 

The updates should contain the following information :

General Status stoplight (Green, Yellow, RED)  

The top portion of the status should be a short executive overview of the current status.

The next 3 sections of the update should contain the following and pulled directly from the plan (cut-n-paste):

1. Completed items since last update
2.  In Process Items
3. Items coming up in the next (X) hours (or whatever your status update schedule is).

Just filter the sheet and then cut and paste the information.

By providing this information you will be actively keeping everyone in the loop as well as being proactive for any tasks that are early or late so dependent tasks are aware of what is coming up.

Requirements

In order to provide this type of communication, you will need to have some automation built into your plan.  The plan I am showing has some hidden columns that allow me to track task status as well as a couple of macros that update fields when they start/complete by me simply pressing the button while I am on that particular task.  So the hidden fields are :

1. Original Start Time 
2. Original End Time
3. Actual Duration (Calculated)

These fields are either calculated or completed at the beginning of the cutover.  So before the cutover starts, I copy the start times and past values into the Original Start times, and do the same for the Original End Times.  The Actual Duration is calculated based upon when each task is completed.  The red pen's in the picture show calculated fields.  So before the cutover starts, I copy the start times and paste as values into the Original Start times, and do the same for the Original End Times.  The Actual Duration is calculated based upon when each task is completed.

In addition to the status, I have a pivot table that updates the status count so you can see an overall picture of where you are from a task count perspective:

This can be the summary portion of your status update.

I hope you have found this blog post informative and useful.  Check back for udpates and please feel free to comment and share.

Thanks,


*** If you are in need of planning help don't hesitate to contact me.  We have reasonable bill rates with great tools to help you get your projects done.  More importantly, if you have a large change event, give me a buzz, we can manage it for you.