Planning

Step 1: Creating the Migration Plan

The first step is to create a Migration Plan and collect all necessary data from the present system.

Step 2: General Configuration

Name and place of the target site
Current revision level of the hardware and software
Hardware and software that is to be installed
New features that will be implemented
Any unique problems presented by the target system

Step 3: Schedule

Graphic or textual schedule showing the general flow of the planned migration activities. List of critical dates, including start date, equipment delivery date, cut over date, acceptance date, and a fall back time schedule.

Step 4: Support Plan

A support plan consists of the following subsections:

Migration Team

Name of the project leader and assigned tasks.
Names of migration team members and their assigned tasks.

Special Equipment and Features

List of unique problems or situations that require special attention during either the preparation or on-site phases of the migration, such as modification of an interface to accommodate customer-owned peripheral equipment.

Hardware Changes

List of the planned hardware changes.
List of all hardware units (for example, boards, cables, PROMs), including spares, by order number.
The list should state which hardware units go into which Servers (LIMs) and indicate the on-site delivery dates of all hardware, including system documentation.

Software Changes

List all the target system's new software and regenerated data that will be loaded separately into the target system.
List plans and any special concerns for loading and dumping until the system is functional. For example, reconfiguration of the system backup, configuration of the safety backup.

Preparation

Date when the target system data will be frozen and extracted in preparation for regeneration. List possible consequences to the customer data base.
List how changes to the system that occur between extraction and migration should be handled.

System Generation

List where and by whom the regeneration of system data will be accomplished.
List the place, organization, simulator system and programs that will be used to accomplish the new generation software.
List the commands that must be entered from the site, after the system is functional, in order to fully accomplish the migration.

Step 5: Cut Over Plan

The cut over plan is an hour-by-hour schedule for last minute preparations and on-site migration activities that includes:

Timing and instructions for gathering materials
Time necessary to travel to the site and remote sites
Communications protocol between migration team members
All of the tactical aspects of the last stages of the migration
A list of all verification tests that must take place and be passed before the migration is considered as successful

Step 6: Fall back Plan

The fall back plan is an hour-by-hour schedule of instructions that are to be followed if the migration has not succeeded by a scheduled deadline. This deadline is a specific time by which the migrated system must be tested and verified. This deadline must also include enough time to return the system to the status that it was in prior to the migration, providing that the migration is not successful. Above all, the customer must have an operational system for normal business hours. This requires a plan that not only includes activities that are to take place during fall back, but also activities in advanced preparation for a fall back even if a fall back does not become necessary. Such preparations include:

Labeling extracted boards, PROMs and the last system dump
Preparing a list of verification tests that must be run on the reinstalled previous system before it can once again be considered fully operational

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