Changeover

Lecture 12

Change-Over Strategiesfor Implementation

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Lecture Objectives

• We will discuss changeover and the risks associated to it

• Consider the benefits and drawbacks of each changeover strategy

• Talk about what feedback is required

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Changeover Strategies

• When a business decides to changeover to a new system to replace a legacy one, if performed incorrectly could result in mass loss of data and potentially millions of pounds.

• The risks that need to be considered are:– There are many bugs in the new system

therefore data is lost, inaccurate data entered or the system is totally unworkable therefore loss of business will occur.

– Staff have not been trained adequately enough to use the new system, resulting in bad customer service and again loss of data, inaccurate data entered or a totally unworkable system

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Changeover Strategies continued

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• There are many risks that could occur as we have discussed, the changeover has to be planned with all aspects of the changeover considered.

• The quicker the changeover the more risks that could occur to the business, the longer the changeover the more likely the new system will become out-of-date.

Changeover Strategies continued• There is a balance that has to be found

in terms of changeover, the quicker the transfer over to a new system occurs depends on the type of business and the importance of the new system.

• When a business decides to changeover from an old system to a new system there are four main changeover strategies that can be used:– Direct changeover– Parallel running– Piloting– Phased changeover

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Changeover strategies

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Direct Changeover (cut over)

• Direct changeover involves more risk than other methods

• It involves abandoning the old system on a certain date and beginning the new system

• This can be done at the end of the financial year, or quarter period.

• Often this is used when implementing new commercial software systems

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Parallel Running

• Easier to ensure the new system is working properly before abandoning the old system

• Running both systems can place a burden on the operating environment

• Only appropriate when both systems are performing similar tasks

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Piloting

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• The group that tries out the new system first is called the Pilot site

• The old system continues to work for the entire organisation

• If the pilot site proves successful then the new system is fully implemented

• Combination of direct and parallel methods

Phased Changeover

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• A part of the system is given to all users• Less expensive than full parallel method• The risk of failures is limited to the

initial modules only• Only possible where system can be

divided into logical segments or modules

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Risk of the changeover strategies

Shelley Cashman 6th Ed.

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Evaluate the new system

Once the changeover has been completedfeedback is needed for the following

areas:– Information system output (accuracy,

completeness and timeliness)– User satisfaction– System reliability and maintainability– Hardware efficiency and performance– Effectiveness of support and training

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Conclusion

• We have discussed the risk of changeover

• We have learned about each different changeover strategy

• We have considered what feedback is required once the changeover is complete

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