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Technology at Your Fingertips
Chapter 1: Knowing What to Do

Chapter 2: Knowing What You Need

Chapter 3: Knowing What You Have

Chapter 4: Knowing What to Get

Chapter 5: Knowing How to Implement Your Solution

How Do You Implement the Solution?

How Do You Assemble Your Implementation Team?

How Do You Develop a Project Plan?

What Do You Need to Do to Choose and Prepare a Site?

How Do You Make Sure Your System Works?

How Do You Convert From Old Information Systems?

How Do You Implement the Changeover of Information Systems?

How Do You Arrange for the System Handover?

Chapter 6: Knowing How to Train Users

Chapter 7: Knowing How to Support and Maintain Your Technology Solution
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Chapter 5: Knowing How to Implement Your Solution

How Do You Arrange for the System Handover?
The final step in the implementation process is the handover - the point when your organization deems that the technology system is complete and ready for routine usage.

Knowing Handover Prerequisites
Before the turnover takes place, a number of steps must be completed:

  • Complete physical installation.
  • Complete system testing, including performance testing.
  • Conduct user training.
  • Convert information and successfully complete a period of parallel operation (although in some cases, this follows handover rather than preceding it).
Be sure to verify all components and all users. The best way to turn off new users is to have things not work when they are supposed to.

Achieving the Milestone
Handover can be an exciting, rewarding, nerve wracking milestone -the culmination of a lot of exhaustive work and worry. It also can be critical from a contractual viewpoint. If your system is based on a commercial vendor's product, this is the date that warranty periods commence. If you've hired a contractor to do custom development, they also typically provide a warranty period for their code (i.e., during which they will fix bugs at their expense), and handover is when the clock starts ticking.

To cap off this discussion of implementation, here's a poetic look at the process.

'Twas the Night Before Implementation


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