Hypercare - Managing the risks around the unexpected

What is Hypercare
Hypercare is the period immediately following a system Go-live* where an elevated level of support is available
to ensure the seamless adoption of a new system.

It's the time-limited, enhanced level of governance and resourcing to ensure appropriate levels of support are
provided during system stabilization, issues are addressed quickly, and knowledge transfer is occurring to the
Service Delivery Organization.

*Go-live is the point at which code moves from the test environment to the production environment.

In simple terms
 Starts with Go-live
 Limited time period (warranty period)
 Support available 24*7 and 7 days a week for all technical issues
 SME’s take full ownership during Hypercare
Definition
Hypercare in application support can be considered as the phase after application is live in production. The
main purpose of the Hypercare period is to closely monitor the application to respond/resolve any type of
functional, Technical and Security issues for smooth functioning of the implemented application. The thumb
rule is that when hypercare support ends, the system to declared as stable and handover to Incumbent/New
AMS team who should be aware of the application capabilities (End to end) and capable of supporting and
resolving all kinds of issues going forward.

Why Hypercare?
When an Application/ERP moved to production, probability of raising the new incidents may be high due to
various reasons (Lack of Knowledge/Technology Lack, User Access etc.,) and need to resolve immediately to run
the system without stopping the any transactions in production environment.

Some of the examples and effects: Considering SAP FICO Module

Issues
Non-confirming the Production Orders
Unable to produce Goods Receipt against
Production Orders
Effects
This results in no activities being captured on the
Production orders
This would result in finished (or semi-finished)
goods inventory not being shown correctly.
 Dis-proportionate Goods Issue to Production This results in differences in physical and system
Orders, Physically the goods have been inventory, requiring periodic (most likely month-
consumed, but there is no consumption entry to end) adjustments to the inventory. This could be
Production Order. a huge control issue

Why do we care about Hypercare?

Hypercare should be more than handling questions and issues post go-live. By investing in hypercare
throughout the implementation you can proactively identify and address issues or questions thereby limiting
the negative impact of go-live.

Triggers/Scenarios for Hypercare support

 Implementation – Standard (or) Custom Application
 Upgrade - Standard (or) Custom Application
Some of the areas to focus on during hypercare
 Confirm business-as-usual is working
 Manage Defects
 Customer (end user) support
 Data integrity
 Availability and performance of the system
 Roll off vendor support (knowledge base)
 Some team members should focus on next phase rollouts by addressing “lessons learned” while designing
and supporting
Types of issues in Hypercare
 User Issues
o Password settings
o user administration
 Technical Issues
o Backup
o Recovery
 Change Management Issues
 o Change approvals
o Testing
Types of support in Hypercare
1. Technical Support: This includes resolving technical queries of the end user working on the application and
any bugs and fixes. This allows the application to stabilize and work efficiently in the new IT environment
among other systems. This also takes care of the data integration taking place with various other existing
systems.
2. On-site training: This includes on-site availability of the support team. This is implemented so that end user
queries can be resolved on the spot without wasting any time. This also includes on the floor training for the
end users which helps them get a complete understanding of the application which considerably reduces
the number of queries hitting the support desk during on- going support. On-site training also facilitates the
end user to get completely familiar with the application. This makes it easy to use thus satisfying the primary
purpose of the application.
3. Handling configuration issues and queries: This includes configuration of fields, adding drop down values,
modifying field names, changing locations of the fields etc. These are some of the tasks managed during
hypercare for smooth functioning of the application related processes. This helps make the application more
user friendly with minimum possible resolution time.
4. Ensuring smooth handover: This is the final activity that comes under hypercare support. This includes
various handover activities like documentation, confirmation from the end users on various processes
configured in the application. This also, includes handover of the application’s administrator rights to the
support team. Confirmation on resolution of major issues are reported during this phase.
Some of the activities perform during Hypercare
 Perform configuration
 Re-configurations
 Upgrades
 Enhancements
 Implementation
 Maintenance
 User acceptance testing activities
How: People involve to resolve/performing Hypercare activities
 Solution Architect
 Technical leads
 Developers
 Testers
 Administrators

When does the hypercare period end?

 Do not just pick an arbitrary period (e.g., 45 Days)
 Do monitor the following:
o Number of critical defects and/or workarounds
o Number of changes to application roles
o Count of Firefighter usages
o Frequency of IT performing business transactions
Practical Scenario – YASH Client
Client Name Smith & Nephew
Project Name TM1 Upgrade
Duration 4 Months
Type of Project: Implementation/Upgradation Upgrade
Type of Support: 24/7 (or) 5 Days support 5 days Support Mon - Fri, Weekend on Call support
Types of Issues faced  Interface issue
 Code Incompatibility
 Functions Decommission
 Infrastructure issues such as Network Latency, Port
reservation, Operating system Conflicts
 Defects of latest version
 Job run time errors
Risks & Challenges  Tools Deprecation
 Insufficient UAT testing
 Defect Fixes of Vendor
 Version Conflicts between interfaces
 Upskill of new Interfaces/tools
 User Training on Latest Version
Solution for Risks & Challenges  Figure out alternatives for interfaces to perform day to day
activities
 Actively check published defects list of Vendors Ex: IBM
Rigorously test all the functionalities of Application
Fetch Guides/Tutorials/Videos/PPT for user training to
ensure smooth transition to finance users
Team: People involved during hypercare to  Technical Lead
resolve the issues with Designations  Administrator
 Developer
 Tester

Case-study
Situation
When one of ABC’s customers decided to perform a major upgrade to a critical production information system,
they worried about whether their support team would be able to successfully assume management of the
newly upgraded system. Their primary concern was the availability of resources should problems occur after
go-live. Heightening tensions even before the project started was the fact that it was a complex, critical system
that needed maintaining on a tight budget whilst constantly undergoing integrations.

Challenge
As with any major upgrade to infrastructure, there was a risk of unforeseen issues emerging after the upgrade.
In this instance the probability was especially high due to the complexity of the system and the requirement
that production should start shortly after commissioning of the newly upgraded system. The plan was for the
upgrade project to end after commissioning, which would have resulted in all recourses and competency within
the project being allocated elsewhere. This approach would have left all issues relating to the system in the
hands of the customer’s internal support team.

Solution
To resolve the situation, ABC, which was a main supplier in the upgrade, offered the customer a prolonged
presence in the form of a ‘hypercare’ period. This ensured a smooth transition of knowledge from the project
to the support team, as well as providing prolonged resource availability. During the hypercare period, ABC
allocated dedicated project members to the customer with technical expertise of the upgraded system and a
guaranteed response time.

Results
The hypercare solution ensured the customer had access to fast, reliable and timely support. In every instance
of a problem being identified, ABC was able to deliver a solution within a few days. All issues were resolved
without resources from the customer and with minimal effect on the customer’s support teams.

Additional benefits included:

 Effective resolution of many additional issues unrelated to the actual upgrade but which would have
otherwise affected ongoing production.
 Improved knowledge transfer from the project to the customer’s organization.
 Support team able to focus on and carry out timely maintenance activities without interruption.
 A calmness throughout the entire organization – in what would have otherwise been an extremely stressful
period for the customer, and most likely would have incurred greater costs in terms of human capital and
an overstretched organization.
Hypercare Approach

High level Schematic Incident/Ticket – Flow/Escalation (Sample)

2a User 1

2b

Super User 3

Support Desk 4

5a
7
IT Ops 2nd line
Team

5b

Project Delivery
Product Owner 7
Team

6
 1 – User identifies a “bug” or “error” in the application.
2a – User locates their Super User by looking up the list of SU’s and contact them (if it is out
urgent). The super user analyses the “bug” or “error”.
2b – If the issue is urgent, the user will contact the SD directly (Portal/Email/Phone).
3 – Super user contacts the SD on behalf of the User to request a ticket to be raised for
Application Support to repair the “bug” or “Error” (Break – fix ticket).
4 – The SD runs through its script, logs the incident and ensures that they capture all relevant
Description information and assign the break-fix to the relevant Service. Management ticket queue.
Problem Type “Application”.
5a – The ticket gets routed to IT Ops 2nd line.
5b – If IT Ops 2nd Line team cannot resolve incident, ticket is escalated to the project team.
6 – Project Delivery Team may consult Project Owner on the chosen solution.
7 – Project may suggest that the change process is initiated.
During this process the Product Owner and Super Users will play a role in implementing the
change and testing/training the end user as required.

IT Support Project
Key Business Roles
Roles Delivery Roles

Stakeholders/Key players: Roles and Responsibilities

 Implementation resources work closely with customer to track and resolve any production issues during
this period.
 Any high priority issues should either be resolved or have a plan for resolution before transitioning
customer to support and Customer Success Manager (CSM).
 It is also imperative to help customer measure adoption metrics during this phase to ensure that value is
being achieved from the start.

Roles
Post Go-Live Support Lead
Service Delivery Manager
IT Delivery Manager
Responsibilities
 Accountable for PGLS Deliverable
 Manage the plan and resource ramp-up and ramp-down
 Consolidated view of PGLS status
 Escalation point for the business and stakeholders
 Single source of communication for all PGLS activities
 Central co-ordination point for PGLS to ensure alignment across all
parties (Business, Deployment team, SD etc.,)
 Management of risks and issues throughout PGLS phase
 Reports PGLS status
 Review and recommends functional readiness to exit PGLS into BAU
 Link between IT Delivery, Service Delivery and Business
 Ensure alignment between IT Delivery, Service Delivery and
Business Priorities/ focus
 Supports the resolution issues
 Provides inputs/guidance to the business
 Understanding of logged incidents and trends
 Reports PGLS status for functional area (Consolidate IS and Business
review)
 Report on readiness to exit PGLS in to BAU
 Represents IT Delivery Organization
 Accountable for managing resolution of incidents during the
warranty period
 Resolution of defects carried forward into BAU
 Provide support to service delivery organization of open incidents
 Business Change Lead
Super Users
 Represent Business
 Communication link into the business
 Escalation point for business function and super users
 Understand and communicate core business issues and priorities
 Monitor risks, implement mitigation and plan contingency
 Ensure adoption of new solution within business
 Ensure decommissioning of the workloads
 Measure and Report KPI’s, Assessment exit readiness to BAU
 Measure ad report KPI’s, Assesses exit readiness to BAU
 Represent end-user
 Firstline business support (On-floor support)
 Participate in issues identification, resolution and communication of
resolution (Bi-directional)
 Support end user in raising the incidents

(OR)

Key steps that contribute to a successful Hypercare

1. Set up a War Room – a centralized support base of operations
2. Identify and place Project Change Champions in key areas that are most impacted by change
3. Readily accessible training content
4. Allocated dedicated project members to the customer with technical expertise of the upgraded system
Key elements to consider
 End-user support in System adoption
 Technical support in Incident and issue resolution
 Escalation Management
How it works
Hypercare clients are provided a designated single point of contact (Dedicated Portal/Email/Number) for all
support requests called a Client Advocate. The client advocate delivers several benefits to hyper care clients,
including:

1. Single Point of Contact for the client

2. Related application solution expertise
3. Existing knowledge of client landscape and requirements
4. Access point to all respective resources
5. Ongoing client champion and project manager for ticket resolution

Entry Criteria
 Follows Operational Readiness Confirmation & Go-live

Operations Factors (examples given below – tailor for your project)

 Responsibility remains with Project Delivery Team
 Incidents are all raised by the end user, super user or process focal point via the Service Desk to the project
delivery team
 All incidents are tracked in Service Management Tool
 All incidents are investigated and resolved by project delivery team
 Change Management is followed for all changes
 Project team execute changes to source code and central configuration
 IT Ops attend weekly incident meetings
 Project delivery team is responsible for all support activities, including any processing or maintenance
tasks.

Exit Criteria

What if business is super demanding and does not want to agree on exit?
Ensure you agree on Exit criteria well in advance. Preferably before UAT and moment they start noticing issues.
Ensure you have Business owners defining KPIs for business processes and listing key Business activities, that
need to happen with Project support. If those activities (with "first-run" date) will run smooth, there will be no
reason not to agree on exit. We call it "Business criticality calendar".
e.g. of such activities in Finance could be

 First payment run from new system

 Start of posting of incoming invoices
 First processing of bank account statements
 FI Reconciliation - Assets

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