Operational readiness – a systematic approach to success

In a rapidly evolving payments industry, driven by digital transformation and technological innovation, the successful execution of transformation projects is key to long-term success. However, a smooth go-live lies in both technological and operational readiness. Operational readiness ensures that teams, systems, and processes are fully prepared to introduce new products and services seamlessly or execute a migration within the sensitive payment processing environment.

We outline the key challenges and recommend best practices that can determine whether a transition is seamless or marked by operational disruptions.

• Challenges in achieving operational readiness. Ensuring operational readiness for payments transformation projects require overcoming specific complexities that go beyond traditional project management. These challenges stem from the critical preparations required for a smooth transition to live operations.

• Underestimation in project management. Operational readiness is often underestimated in large projects, both in terms of complexity and time requirements. Many project managers mistakenly view it as a simple final phase that requires minimal resources. This misconception ignores the fact that early planning and adequate resourcing are critical to ensure systems, processes, and teams are optimally prepared to go-live. Failure in this regard can lead to last-minute issues and potential delays in migration.

• Detailed process planning. A key task in operational readiness is the precise planning of all transformation-related process steps. The absence of a detailed playbook can lead to disruptions and delays. The challenge is to define all necessary activities in advance and ensure seamless execution – particularly in complex migration projects requiring high levels of coordination.

• Achieving full operational readiness at go-live. Reaching full operational readiness at go-live is a significant challenge. Project teams often underestimate the importance of securing the necessary team capacity through precise capacity planning and ensuring that all (new) team members possess the required expertise. Additionally, correctly implementing access rights is critical for both security and seamless operations. A lack of preparation in these areas can cause unexpected issues in the critical go-live phase.

• Effective change management. The acceptance of new systems and processes by employees is a crucial factor in operational readiness. Effective change management measures must be part of the strategy to overcome resistance and ensure employee engagement. This includes timely provision of training and information materials to prepare teams for new processes and technologies.

Best practices for ensuring operational readiness

To overcome these challenges and ensure successful operational readiness, applying best practices is essential. Below are five key practices we recommend:

1. Playbook for process security. A detailed playbook helps to systematically organize all necessary tasks. Using the ‘Who? Does What? When?’ framework, all activities related to rollout or migration should be documented. This prevents execution errors that may require a rollback, and ensures meticulous attention to detail at every step.
   
   Thorough testing of the playbook before go-live is crucial for mitigating risks.
   
   Depending on the project complexity, it should be decided early on when the playbook should be created and who will own it. For large and complex transformation projects with multiple rollout/migration events, it is advisable to allocate dedicated playbook resources – ideally involved from the analysis and conception phases. Though effort-intensive early on, this approach pays off later as business and IT departments will be better prepared during critical project phases, such as testing, having already gathered essential information in the beginning.
   
   
2. Setting up a control center. The control center serves as the central command hub during the migration or rollout. Once the countdown begins, all participants must follow its directives. An efficient control center setup includes:
   
   • thoughtful selection of core team members
   • defining communication channels (dedicated email, chat groups, control center meetings)
   • tools and processes for task assignment and status tracking
   • effective issue management with sufficient capacity for dispatching, analysis, and resolution
   • clearly defined escalation paths.
   
   
3. Ensuring resource availability. The transition to live operation requires the future processing team to be adequately staffed and sufficiently trained. Key factors include:
   
   • Capacity planning. Conducting precise capacity planning ensures that adequate personnel are available to handle increased workloads.
   • Lead time for hiring and training. Sufficient lead time must be planned to recruit and train staff to support the transition effectively.
   
   
4. Knowledge development. In addition to ensuring adequate staffing, the expertise of team members plays a crucial role. Comprehensive training and access to knowledge resources enable teams to work efficiently and resolve issues quickly. Recommended practices include:
   
   • regular training sessions
   • continuous documentation updates for process changes
   • providing efficient training tools to support knowledge transfer.
   
   
5. Access management. Before go-live, all relevant access permissions must be clearly defined and implemented. Proper access management ensures both security and operational efficiency. This includes:
   
   • creating or updating permission concepts
   • assigning appropriate permissions to relevant users.

Conclusion

Operational readiness is more than just a phase before go-live—it is a critical success factor for the successful execution of large-scale payment transformation projects. By understanding key challenges and implementing proven best practices, organizations can ensure they are fully prepared for a successful transition.

With extensive expertise in operational readiness, Capco has successfully supported complex technical mergers involving over 1,000 playbook steps and numerous platform developments and implementations. Our services include designing project-specific operational readiness strategies, executing operational tasks such as playbook creation and management, control center coordination, and issue tracking, tailored to each client’s unique needs.