Hypercare - Managing the risks around the unexpected

What is Hypercare
Hypercare is the period immediately following a system Go Live where an elevated level of support is available
to ensure the seamless adoption of a new system.

Definition
Hypercare in application support can be considered as the phase after application is live in production. The
main purpose of the Hypercare period is to closely monitor the application to respond/resolve any type of
functional, Technical and Security issues for smooth functioning of the implemented application. The thumb
rule is that when hypercare support ends, the system is declared as stable and it is in safe hands of AMS team
who should be in full capacity to support and resolve issues.

Most of the people in the industry have a misconception that hypercare includes only training. However, it
provides end user and also AMS Team with all type of support which is critical after Go-live.

Duration
 Based upon the project and criticality of the application, usually 30 – 45 Days
Focused Areas
 Customer (end user) support,
 Data integrity,
 Availability and performance of the system.

In Practical Scenario
How it works
Hypercare clients are provided a designated single point of contact for all support requests called a Client
Advocate. The client advocate delivers several benefits to hyper care clients, including:

1. Single Point of Contact for the client

2. Related application solution expertise
3. Existing knowledge of client landscape and requirements
4. Access point to all respective resources
5. Ongoing client champion and project manager for ticket resolution
Entry Criteria
 Follows Operational Readiness Confirmation & Go-live
Operations Factors (examples given below – tailor for your project)
 Responsibility remains with Project Delivery Team
 Incidents are all raised by the end user, super user or process focal point via the Service Desk to the project
delivery team
 All incidents are tracked in Service Management Tool
 All incidents are investigated and resolved by project delivery team
 Change Management is followed for all changes
 Project team execute changes to source code and central configuration
 IT Ops attend weekly incident meetings
 Project delivery team is responsible for all support activities, including any processing or maintenance
tasks.
Exit Criteria (examples given below)
 Application services have been enabled and have been operable for at least 1 week
 Move to the next support phase signed off by IT Ops lead
Incident Status
 No Severity 1 incidents still open and none have been opened in the previous elapsed 5 days.
 If the system is stable and a Severity 1 incident has been opened in the previous elapsed 5 days, IT Ops can
decide to forego this criterion and move to the next support phase, pending approval from the IT Ops Lead.
Anticipated Duration
 n weeks (although criteria driven)
Triggers/Scenarios for Hypercare support
 Implementation – Standard (or) Custom Application
 Upgrade - Standard (or) Custom Application
Key elements to consider
 End-user support in System adoption
 Technical support in Incident and issue resolution
 Escalation Management
Aspects to consider during Post Go-live Support Phase (PGLS)

Stakeholders/Key players: Roles and Responsibilities

Types of support in Hypercare
1. Technical support
2. On-site training
3. Handling issues and queries
4. Escalation plan
5. Ensuring smooth handover

Technical Support: An important objective of hypercare support, this includes resolving technical queries of the
end user working on the application and any bugs and fixes. This allows the application to stabilize and work
efficiently in the new IT environment among other systems. This also takes care of the data integration taking
place with various other existing systems.

On-site training: This is another aspect of hypercare support which includes on-site availability of the support
team. This is implemented so that end user queries can be resolved on the spot without wasting any time. This
also includes on the floor training for the end users which helps them get a complete understanding of the
application which considerably reduces the number of queries hitting the support desk during on- going
support. On-site training also facilitates the end user to get completely familiar with the application. This makes
it easy to use thus satisfying the primary purpose of the application.

Handling configuration issues and queries: Handling of configuration issues and related queries are also
managed under hypercare period. This includes configuration of fields, adding drop down values, modifying
field names, changing locations of the fields etc. These are some of the tasks managed during hypercare for
smooth functioning of the application related processes. This helps make the application more user friendly
with minimum possible resolution time.

Ensuring smooth handover: This is the final activity that comes under hypercare support. This includes various
handover activities like documentation, confirmation from the end users on various processes configured in the
application. This also, includes handover of the application’s administrator rights to the support team.
Confirmation on resolution of major issues are reported during this phase.

Interim process
Key steps that contribute to a successful Hypercare
1. Set up a War Room – a centralized support base of operations
2. Identify and place Project Change Champions in key areas that are most impacted by change
3. Readily accessible training content
4. Allocated dedicated project members to the customer with technical expertise of the upgraded system
Communication channels to report any problems
 Through service application via through Self portal, Info gram etc.,
 A dedicated email address to which the customer could send requests.
 A telephone number at which the customer could report problems on a 24/7 basis.

References:
https://www.theshelbygroup.com/post-implementation-support-part-2-silence-bliss/

https://systemsplusgroup.blogspot.com/2014/07/hypercare-support.html

https://www.snp-poland.com/en/better-business/case-studies/hypercare-support-after-sap-upgrade/

https://www.plantvision.se/hypercare/

https://opsasto.blog/2017/09/the-service-cutover-plan/

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/went-live-now-what-part-1-ausra-gustainiene/

https://www.acronotics.com/bot-maintenance