The Crucial Importance of Transitioning to Business-as-Usual (BAU) after a technology implementation

When an organization undertakes a major technology implementation like a new software system, customer database, or cloud migration, a huge amount of time, money, and effort goes into planning, building, and deploying the new technology. But once that implementation is complete and the shiny new tech is in place, the work is far from over.

One of the most critical but often overlooked phases of any technology project is the transition to business-as-usual, commonly called BAU. This involves shifting from intense implementation activities to establishing processes for effectively maintaining, supporting, and maximizing the value of the new technology on an ongoing basis within normal operations.

Failing to properly transition to a BAU state can lead to a whole host of problems down the line and undermine the success of the implementation. That's why this transition deserves careful planning and execution. Here's a look at why this BAU transition is so vitally important.

During an implementation project, a lot of focus and resources are dedicated to activities like requirements gathering, system configuration, data migration, integration, testing, training, and go-live readiness. There's a big push to get the new technology successfully deployed.

However, simply installing new technology doesn't automatically translate into sustainable adoption and realization of its full intended benefits over time. The true value only gets unlocked through effective long-term usage and by incorporating the technology into stable processes across the business.

An intentional BAU transition lays the groundwork to achieve lasting adoption and ROI from the implementation. It establishes clear ownership, governance, support processes, and performance monitoring to manage the technology as a robust operational asset delivering value year after year.

Without this transition, the new technology runs the risk of having an initial burst of usage that quickly falls off due to lack of reinforcement, training gaps, or shifting priorities. Realizing long-term value means making sure the people and processes are in place to sustain the adoption.

Technology implementations typically rely heavily on third-party implementation partners, system integrators, or vendor professional services teams to provide much of the hands-on configuration, testing, and deployment support. During the project, these external staff deeply immerse themselves in the new system, architecture, and processes.

However, once the implementation is complete and these external resources ramp off the project, it can create a vacuum. The organization may suddenly lack the internal knowledge and capabilities needed to properly support the new technology on an ongoing basis.

An effective BAU transition accounts for this transition by including robust knowledge transfer from external parties to internal staff and putting the right training, documentation, and support models in place. It prevents a situation where the organization has this powerful new technology but doesn't have the in-house skills and processes to effectively leverage it.

Even after successful testing and go-live, it's inevitable that issues, defects, or optimization needs will emerge once a new system is running at full scale in the normal operational environment. New software versions and updates will be released. Business requirements may evolve over time.

Without a clear, established path for supporting the technology in its BAU state, there's a risk of operational instability, outages, and disruption when things need to be fixed, upgraded, or enhanced. An ad hoc approach leaves the organization scrambling to resolve issues in an unsustainable way.

A thoughtful BAU transition puts defined processes and resources in place for monitoring the performance of the technology, resolving incidents, handling updates and releases, integrating new features, optimizing usage, and maintaining service levels. It provides a framework for stable, sustainable, cost-effective, and secure operations.

Even the most advanced technology solutions will need to be fine-tuned and updated over time to continue delivering maximum value. An organized governance and continual service improvement process is critical.

If not established during the BAU transition, it can be challenging to implement governance later. Different teams and individuals may take over support in silos, making it difficult to coordinate changes and optimize end-to-end processes. A lack of governance can also hamper critical activities like user training, process refinement, and adoption reinforcement.

Proper BAU governance clarifies the decision-making processes, roles, controls, and working practices to assess ongoing operational performance, manage enhancements, communicate updates, and prioritize continuous optimization efforts. It avoids governance inertia from setting in and enables the technology to stay in sync with evolving business requirements.

Technology implementations usually come with major upfront costs for procuring the software/hardware, vendor services, integration, and training. After this initial investment, shifting to BAU operations provides opportunities to control costs and boost efficiencies.

With a defined BAU model, the organization can optimize support staffing levels and develop an efficient internal capability to handle maintenance, upgrades, and support. This can reduce reliance on more costly external support from partners or vendors. A feedback loop tracks performance data to fine-tune processes and staffing for maximum efficiency.

Conversely, without clear BAU ownership, processes, and oversight, it's easy for support costs to balloon out of control. The organization may continue overpaying for external support, miss maintenance renewal opportunities, or overstaff in some areas while lacking support in others—causing outages and firefighting.

Despite its importance to long-term success, the BAU transition phase is often rushed or pushed aside in the heat of a big technology implementation project. With so much emphasis on getting the new system live and meeting delivery deadlines, the future operational state can become an afterthought.

To avoid this pitfall, organizations should bake comprehensive BAU planning into the overall implementation roadmap and approach from the very beginning. Don't wait until the last minute to figure out what resources, processes, and governance will be required.

BAU transition activities like developing operational runbooks, designing support processes, upgrading internal skillsets, and establishing performance metrics should have dedicated workstreams and progress tracked just like other critical implementation components.

Additionally, BAU roles, responsibilities, and budgets should be defined upfront and included in overall resource and financial planning. Typically a hybrid model works best, with a mix of leveraging existing operational teams and investing in roles dedicated to supporting the new technology.

Successfully deploying new technology is a major milestone that deserves to be celebrated. But it's just one step on the journey toward realizing maximum long-term value and return on investment.

Investing the proper time, effort, and resources into a robust transition to business-as-usual operations is pivotal. Not only does it build a foundation for effective maintenance and support, but it also helps ensure sustainable adoption, process optimization, cost control, and an agile ability to evolve and capitalize on the technology for years to come.

Don't let a lack of BAU planning lead to a hollow implementation where all the upfront effort gets squandered. Give the transition to normal operations the attention and level of detail it demands from day one. With sound BAU practices in place, the organization can reap the full benefits of its technology investment and stay ahead of the curve.