Prepare to Transition from RightAngle Project to Support

Preparing to transfer a finished RightAngle project to your customer is like a builder passing off the keys to a new house, you really want to equip the person taking over with all the user manuals required to keep up with the place. Like the builders, it starts with knowing a day will come to hand over the keys and being diligent about saving the documentation with everything put into the home. 

For RightAngle, this means storing all the designs, decisions, and cataloging the components so the new tenants understand how to keep it all together. The goal of these transitions is to equip the support team with proper documentation, skills, and context to support the environment for the long haul. To achieve those goals, you must start early. 

Begin with the End in Mind

The first key to a successful transition from the System Implementor (SI) to the customer’s internal support team is knowing the day will come for a transition. For Triarc, this means understanding what a support analyst would need to keep your implemented system running well. Those items include:

• What we did in the system
• Why we chose to set those items up
• What we recommend for the utilization of those components
• How the customer can set up a new business to fit within these customizations

We choose to track these important pieces of information in a few different ways. 

1. Specification Documents

Specification Documents are detailed bedrock to providing information to the customer about their new implementation. This would be equivalent to receiving the schematics and blueprints for your new home. It might guide you to which breaker switch covers which room and how you can best reset those if they trip. The same is achieved for tasks letting you know what actions drive which components in RightAngle and the best steps to take when it goes wrong.

2. Customer RightAngle Dictionary

Triarc builds what we call the “Customer RightAngle Dictionary.” This is a living spreadsheet containing information on all of the custom components, design decisions, functional implementations, and other non-standard items about the customer’s project. With each of those line items is a summary of the customization, recommended usage, where it is located, and even the dependencies it might have on other components. Where possible, we include a hyperlink to the Specification Document for the component in case they need to go deeper. 

This is typically where a support team would start to learn more about their implementation.  This becomes a key artifact into the future. The basis for your next RightAngle upgrade would start with a review of these components produced by the project team during implementation. 

3. Knowledge Transfer Sessions

Some items are sticky – we get that. You might need a tutorial on how to light your pilot light on your furnace if it blows out, and that warrants more than a document explanation. RightAngle has similar items which require more than documentation. The project team will review the RightAngle Dictionary with the support team to identify questions or components which require a deeper dive. Those KT sessions are then scheduled, recorded, and stored for future reference when needed. 

4. The Pesky Backlog

The final piece of important information is understanding the problems within the implementation. This is a situation where the SI is honest with the customer and lets them know recent challenges, outstanding backlog items, and areas of improvement for the system. 

This requires a level of trust between the customer and SI for honest, meaningful dialogue on where to look out as they move forward. This could be data growth, system performance, incomplete development, or unreliable processes. They are not common items an SI would like to draw attention towards, but it is paramount to long-term success to see these speedbumps before you hit them. 

5. Training

This may seem like a no-brainer, but many support teams are seeing RightAngle for the first time. Training is likely required to ensure they know the basics to maintain the system and navigate it.

Life Can Be Good in a New Home

Moving to a new system should be an exciting adventure and one you don’t dread when the keys are turned over to you. By planning early and taking the actions above, your team can be ready to receive the baton when the project ends. 

It takes time and effort to ensure the proper documentation is written and that the team is prepared to deliver this information, but the payoff in the long run is well worth the investment. 

If this road sounds a little tough, you don't have to go it alone. Triarc Solutions offers support packages to meet your needs. Contract our team to assist you on the frontlines and solve your toughest RightAngle issues. As part of the engagement, we’ll help navigate through the transition from Project Mode -> Production Support. It’s twice as seamless if you used our consulting services to complete your RightAngle transformation. 

Got questions? Need answers or just a bit of advice? Let’s connect so you can maximize your RightAngle investment.

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