Deployment
Importance of the phase for democratic dialogue
Deployment is the phase during which the application will encounter all of its users for the first time, in a real working environment. It is the final phase of the project.
Deployment is the last phase during which any identified malfunctions can be corrected within the scope of the project.
Training for software users, the quality of which is essential for them, is carried out at the beginning of this phase (or at the end of the previous phase).
Standard presentation of the phase
APIDOR’s advice
This involves installing the application in its final environment to enable its intended use.
Other names: production launch, implementation.
Phase objectives
Prepare for the effective launch of the approved software into production.
Load the data.
Install the operating environment and application on workstations (or open access to the application).
Train users.
Identify malfunctions during use in ‘real conditions’.
Note: challenges for senior management
The challenges here are often limited to costs and deadlines: adherence to the planned schedule and budget.
If the application is to be used by customers, customer satisfaction is of course a challenge.
Phase inputs and outputs
Inputs
Application approved.
External documentation, including user manual(s).
Outputs
Application commissioned.
Initial list of malfunctions.
User manual(s) validated.
Actors and bodies involved
Systems engineer
Network engineer
Developers
Users
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Democratic dialogue procedures
Stakeholders who are responsible for requirements about well-being and citizenship at work must be involved in this phase.
Content and sequence of the phase
Transfer of existing data and/or data loading.
Communication to users and persons affected by the application.
Installation of the application on workstations (installation of the operating environment) or opening up access. This can be done in stages or all at once.
At the start of the phase, or at the end of the previous phase (Delivery & User testing): user training.
Use of the application ‘in real conditions’ by users.
Identification of malfunctions ‘in real conditions’.
Possibly, a period of change management support.
Monitoring of the application for a few months. There are often many probes to determine the behaviour of the application from a business perspective.
If the application replaces a previous application, we will seek to assess whether the new application is less expensive.
- Democratic dialogue procedures: communication
The content of the communication and the methods of dissemination must be defined in collaboration with those responsible for promoting well-being and citizenship at work.
- Point to note: user training
Users must feel that the training provided is sufficient. If not, it must be possible to request additional training on points identified by users.
- Point to note: usage time considered during the phase
The ‘actual’ usage time during deployment must be sufficient for the majority of problems to be identified during this phase.
The risk is that this time may be too short, and that we then move too quickly into ‘maintenance’ mode, during which corrections may be more random and slower.
- Democratic dialogue procedures: reporting malfunctions
The reporting of malfunctions must be clearly organised. If there is a form for reporting a problem, its structure must be discussed with those responsible for requirements about well-being and citizenship at work. It is important that non-technical and non-strictly functional problems can be taken into account.
- Democratic dialogue procedures: change management objectives
If change support is envisaged, it is essential that its objectives be jointly developed with those responsible for the requirements about well-being and citizenship at work, as well as the terms and conditions of this support. At a minimum, the objectives must be explicit and open to debate.
Sometimes, change management consists of getting employees to accept change as planned by senior management, without taking sufficient account of employees’ experiences in real work situations, their expertise or their skills.
- Point to watch out for: probes
Those responsiblefor the requirements about well-being and citizenship at work must pay attention to the points covered by the automatic collection of information on the use of the application.
Information usually disseminated/processed
Little information is disseminated at this stage, with the exception of project monitoring indicators (KPIs) on costs and deadlines.