Cutover testing

  • 4 minutes

Cutover is the final set of steps that move your upgraded system into production. It starts after you turn off Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012, and it ends when finance and operations is live and running. Cutover involves three key workstreams. Each one plays an important role in making sure the transition goes smoothly and stays within your planned downtime window.is live and running.

To prepare for a smooth go-live event, practice this process ahead of time. This practice session is called a mock cutover. Mock cutover testing helps your team get familiar with the cutover steps and timing so everything runs efficiently and with minimal risk during the actual go-live event.

Cutover workstreams

Cutover involves three key workstreams. Each one plays an important role in making sure that the transition goes smoothly and stays within your planned downtime window.

  • Technical workstream - This workstream is responsible for running the data upgrade process. Typically, your business sets a strict limit for how long the system can be offline. During that time, AX 2012 and finance and operations aren't available. The technical team might need to optimize the upgrade steps to meet this downtime limit.

  • Functional workstream - After the data upgrade finishes, this workstream takes care of configuration tasks that are necessary for finalizing the system. To keep the process on track, you should:

    • Document and time each task.
    • Assign resources to each one.
    • Make sure that all tasks fit within the same downtime window as the technical work.

  • AX 2012 rollback workstream - This workstream prepares for the unlikely but possible scenario where you need to roll back to AX 2012. Even if you don't expect to use it, having a tested rollback plan gives you an extra layer of safety during go-live.