ERP strategy & selection
ERP go-live checklist: readiness, cutover and the first 30 days
An ERP go-live checklist for Philippine companies: readiness criteria, go/no-go decision, cutover steps, branch support, hypercare and the first 30 days.
Go-live is where months of preparation meet real operations. A good go-live is boring: payroll releases on time, stores keep selling, invoices go out, and the issues that appear are small and quickly fixed. That outcome comes from clear readiness criteria, a detailed cutover plan and intensive support in the first weeks.
Readiness criteria
Agree in advance what must be true to go live:
- All critical scenarios passed end-to-end testing
- User acceptance testing signed off by process owners
- Payroll parallel run matches the current process, with differences explained
- Month-end dry run reconciles (for finance phases)
- Master data validated and signed off by data owners
- Users trained for their roles; key users ready
- Access and permissions configured and reviewed
- Integrations tested, with error monitoring
- Support model and escalation paths in place
- Rollback or contingency plan defined
- BIR and other registrations ready where required (for example, POS terminals)
The go/no-go meeting
Hold it a few days before cutover with the sponsor, project lead, process owners, IT and vendor. Review each criterion: green, amber with mitigation, or red. Any red on a critical item means postponing. Postponing a go-live is cheaper than a failed one.
Cutover plan
| Timing | Activity | Owner |
|---|---|---|
| Cutover minus 7 days | Communicate freeze dates and new procedures | Project lead |
| Cutover minus 3 days | Freeze master data changes in the old system | Data owners |
| Cutover minus 1 day | Final extracts; last transactions in the old system | Process owners |
| Cutover day | Load final data and balances; reconcile | Project team |
| Cutover day | Verify access and key functions; smoke tests | Key users |
| Go-live day | Users start in the new system; support on site or online | All |
For payroll, align cutover with a cutoff. For finance, with a period end. For stores, with low-traffic days, never right before paydays or holidays.
The first 30 days (hypercare)
Week 1
- Daily stand-up of the project team to review issues
- Support staff available at branches or online during operating hours
- Priority on anything that stops sales, payroll or deliveries
Weeks 2 to 4
- Track issue volume and resolution time
- Refresher training where support tickets reveal gaps
- First payroll and first month-end closely supervised
- Adoption metrics reviewed weekly (change management)
Issue triage
| Severity | Example | Response |
|---|---|---|
| Critical | POS cannot sell; payroll cannot compute | Immediate, all hands |
| High | Approval workflow blocked for a department | Same day |
| Medium | Report format issue | Within days |
| Low | Cosmetic or nice-to-have | Backlog |
After hypercare
Hand over to the regular support model, document lessons learned, measure benefits against the business case (ERP ROI) and plan the next phase (phased rollout).
Where Cirquolus fits
Plan your Cirquolus go-live with readiness criteria, a parallel payroll or month-end where applicable, and a support plan for your branches. Our team scopes these with you during implementation planning. Related: ERP implementation guide.
Frequently asked questions
What should be on an ERP go-live checklist?
Tested scenarios, signed-off user acceptance, parallel run results, validated data, trained users, configured access, tested integrations, support plans and contingency plans.
What is hypercare?
A period of intensive support right after go-live, typically the first weeks, to resolve issues quickly and stabilize operations.
When should go-live be postponed?
When critical readiness criteria are not met, such as unresolved payroll differences or failed end-to-end tests.
What is the best timing for ERP go-live?
At natural boundaries such as a payroll cutoff or month-end, avoiding peak business periods.
Bring this workflow to a Cirquolus demo.
Show us your current process, companies and branches. We will map it to the modules you need and propose a realistic rollout.