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How to Plan a Small Business System Upgrade:
A Four-Step Checklist for Getting It Right the First Time
By Joshua Feinberg

Smooth upgrades don't just happen by accident. Major system changes require several weeks, in some cases even months, of advanced planning and meticulous attention to dozens of interrelated details. In larger companies, full-time IT project managers have these responsibilities.

In a small business; however, project management usually gets dumped on the de facto computer person, or internal guru -- the one everyone yells for instinctively when the printer jams, the database locks up, or toolbars and files disappear. If you wear this "hat" for your company, read on for a simple, four step checklist for smooth system upgrades. Learn how to organize change, avoid internal mutiny and get it right the first time.

Step 1 - Planning

1. Objectives -- What are you looking to achieve?
2. Benefits -- Who will benefit and how? When?
3. ROI (Return on Investment) -- How and when will you know whether the upgrade was a success?
4. Pre-Existing Conditions -- For example, how reliable and standardized are existing systems?
5. One-Page Planning Document -- What are the key upgrade steps and action items? What does the timetable and budget look like? Do you anticipate any potential problems?

Step 2 - Campaigning and Surveying

1. Spread the Word -- Can the owner/CEO send a short memo or e-mail showing high-level support? Can you hold some town hall-style meetings to brief end users on coming changes and expected benefits?
2. Site Surveys -- What hardware and software assets are currently deployed? More importantly, what tech assets are actually being used for business critical functions?
3. Survey Says. -- How do your findings from individual PC site surveys mesh with your initial plans? Do you need to adjust your timetable or budget in response to these findings?

Step 3 - Testing, Testing, 1-2-3

1. Prototype the Completed System -- Do you have adequate hardware and software resources to model your expected results?
2. Kick the Tires from a Technical Standpoint -- How does the prototype system perform from a technical standpoint? Is it reliable? Is system performance adequate as simulated workload volume increases? How does the prototype fit in with your existing IT investments?
3. Kick the Tires from an End User Standpoint -- Are key end users and managers able to validate the business benefits of the prototype? Are there any unanticipated training or end user interface issues that need to be addressed?
4. Consider Mass Deployment Options -- How will you be installing the system upgrade? Are the upgrades time intensive? Is there anything you can do to automate some of this work?
5. Organize Technical Documentation -- What are the system requirements? What are the major installation steps? Are there any common troubleshooting remedies or workarounds? What defines installation success?
6. Prepare an End User Cheat Sheet -- What does the average end user need to know about the upgrade? Can you lower your "help desk" costs by addressing some anticipated questions?
7. Announce Testing Results and Mandated Training -- Can the owner/CEO send another short memo or e-mail announcing the completion of testing and the need to attend a mandatory training session?

Step 4 - It's Show Time

1. End User Training Session(s) -- What are the immediate business needs of end users affected by the upgrade? What's changing from how work is handled now?
2. Data Backup -- Are there any files on individual systems that are not already backed up on a regular basis?
3. Installing the Upgrade -- Do you feel any more relaxed and confident knowing that you've done all the above preparation?
4. Quality Control Checklist -- Using the definition of "installation success" that came out of Step 3E (Organize Technical Documentation), can you prepare a simple, but thorough bullet-point quality control checklist?
5. End User Orientation -- Can you assuage end users' natural fears of change by visiting with each user for a few minutes, immediately following installation, to answer any remaining questions or concerns?

The Bottom Line

Regardless of whether you're considering an upgrade to a new version of Microsoft Windows, Microsoft Office, a contact management program, an accounting application or even a new fleet of notebook computers, system upgrades rarely go as smooth as you'd like. However, you can take much of the stress and risk out of system upgrades by using this checklist to help create a detailed plan that organizes change, avoids internal mutiny and helps you get it right the first time.

Copyright (C) 2002, KISTech Communications Corporation, Used by Permission

Joshua Feinberg is an internationally recognized small business technology expert, consultant, columnist, author, keynote speaker, and trainer. He is a published Microsoft Press author, as well as the creator of and two-year veteran writer of the Microsoft Direct Access "VAPVoice: Notes From the Field".
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