Cutover is the short, tightly planned window when the project switches from the old system to the new one. The Cutover tab holds the runbook: every activity, in order, with its owner and its planned and actual times. Open it from the project menu: Delivery, then Cutover.
What it's for
During cutover, everyone needs to know what happens next, who does it and whether the plan is slipping. Six figures sit at the top: Total, Completed, In progress, Delayed, Go / no-go checkpoints, and Next up, the next activity still to start.
A go / no-go checkpoint is an activity where named people decide formally whether cutover continues. Checkpoints are highlighted in the runbook.
Before you start
Before you build the runbook
- The project's plan includes Cutover (Professional, Enterprise or a personal plan)
- Your role can create cutover activities
- The project has an end date, if you want the default plan
- You know who owns each activity and who backs them up
Three ways to build the runbook
- Generate default plan: shown while the runbook is empty. It adds 32 standard SAP activities across pre-cutover, technical cutover, data migration, validation, go / no-go and post go-live. They start at 08:00 fourteen days before the project's end date and run one after another. Edit them to fit your project.
- Template and Import: download the Excel template, fill in your activities, then import the .xlsx file. The app checks each row for a title, category, planned start and planned end.
- Add activity: add activities one at a time.
How to add an activity
- Start a new activity
Select Add activity.
- Describe it
Enter the Title and Description, and choose the Category and Sequence (its place in the runbook).
- Schedule it
Set Planned start and Planned end. Duration (hours) is worked out if you leave it blank.
- Assign it
Enter the Owner and a Backup owner, and choose a Predecessor: the activity that must finish first.
- Mark checkpoints
Tick Go / no-go checkpoint if this activity needs formal sign-off, and enter who signs it off in Sign-off by.
Running cutover
As the weekend runs, open each activity and record its Actual start and Actual end, and set its Status: Not started, In progress, Completed, Delayed, Skipped or Blocked. The runbook shows the variance against plan, such as +3h late, -1h early or On time.
When an activity is Delayed, the app warns that the delay affects the activities after it, and those activities show Predecessor delayed.
Once a checkpoint is saved, its activity shows a Signatures panel. Use it to have the decision signed by the people who made it. See E-signatures.
Use the category buttons (All, Pre-cutover, Technical, Data, Validation, Go / no-go, Post go-live) to focus on one part of the runbook.
Good to know
- Rehearse with the Cutover dry run test cycle and the data migration dress rehearsal. See Testing and Data migration.
- The Deploy → Run quality gate needs a finalized, rehearsed cutover plan. See Quality gates.
- Cutover needs Professional, Enterprise or a personal plan. See Plans and pricing.
Who can do this
Admins, project managers, cutover managers, functional leads and technical leads can create and edit activities. Only admins, project managers and cutover managers can delete an activity. Everyone else on the project can read the runbook. See Roles and permissions.