Working with various customers around the world we have noticed how frequently their customers suffer from poor service which can be easily improved by adding a simple checklist to their product development process. We are talking about – Product Launch Checklist.
As you are approaching final stages of your development and your product is ‘almost market ready’, consideration needs to be given to extensive pre-launch testing.
This phase is sometimes also referred to as Product Readiness Test (PRT) and should include testing considerations in three key business areas: technical, commercial and operations.
The following is an example Product Launch Checklist we can use to look at each one of those areas:
Technical Readiness | Completed By / Approved By: | Documented: |
All technical aspects of product design and architecture completed | ||
Technical testing completed (including performance testing, load testing…) | ||
All technical documentation finalised (eg. product technical guide) | ||
All technical training finalised and delivered | ||
All technical support in place for product infrastructure (eg. maintenance contracts) | ||
Technical integration completed for all solution components and OSS/BSS | ||
Beta testing (eg. fault scenarios, redundancy working, escalation working) |
Commercial Readiness | Completed By / Approved By: | Documented: |
All product internal (sales guides, FAQ, proposals) documentation ready | ||
All product external documentation ready (order forms, brochures, value proposition, contracts) | ||
All product OSS/BSS systems ready and end-to-end trial order completed successfully | ||
All product training completed (eg for sales) | ||
All commercial components approved for release (eg. pricing, SLA…) | ||
Business process documentation completed (eg. how to order…) | ||
Product launch prepared (eg. events booked, press releases drafted…) |
Operations Readiness | Completed By / Approved By: | Documented: |
Operational staff fully briefed and trained | ||
Operation end-to-end testing of trial customer order (from order receipt, implementation to support) | ||
All operational work instructions completed (eg. how to troubleshoot faults) | ||
All OSS/BSS systems tested and working ok | ||
All customer billing working OK as per specification | ||
Customer help desk operational and sufficient staff available to cover 24×7 coverage | ||
Escalation procedures completed, agreed and tested |
I hope it’s of help…
Very handy little check list – indeed.
Thanks