The Forgotten Phase
In our experience, the operations handover is the most underestimated phase of any network project. Teams invest months in design and implementation, only to rush the handover in the final week. The result? An operations team that's unprepared to manage the new infrastructure.
What Goes Wrong
Common handover failures include:
Inadequate Training — A two-hour walkthrough is not sufficient for complex new infrastructure
Missing Documentation — Operations teams receive a pile of vendor manuals but no customized runbooks
No Monitoring — New infrastructure is deployed without proper monitoring and alerting
Knowledge Silos — Only the project team understands the design decisions
What a Good Handover Looks Like
Knowledge Transfer
Multiple sessions covering architecture, configuration, and troubleshooting
Hands-on labs where operations staff practice common tasks
Documented design decisions and their rationale
Documentation Suite
Network topology diagrams at multiple levels of detail
IP addressing and VLAN documentation
Standard operating procedures for common tasks
Troubleshooting guides for known issues
Vendor contact and escalation information
Operational Readiness
Monitoring dashboards configured and tested
Alert thresholds defined and documented
On-call procedures established
Escalation paths defined and communicated
Support Transition
Defined hypercare period with project team availability
Clear criteria for transitioning to business-as-usual support
Regular check-ins during the transition period
The Business Impact
Organizations that invest in proper handovers see:
50% faster incident resolution in the first 6 months
80% fewer escalations back to the project team
Higher operations team confidence and morale
Better return on the project investment
How We Approach Handovers
At Bob Popcorn International, we plan the handover from the start of the project, not the last week of it. Your operations team works alongside us the whole way, so by the time we wrap up they already know how to run the new infrastructure.
Got a project coming up? Get in touch and we'll build the handover in from the start.
Written by Ewan Macpherson
Founder & Lead Network Consultant
Ewan has spent over 15 years designing, building, and operating enterprise networks across Australia. More about the team.
Need Help With Your Network?
Tell us what you are dealing with and we will give you a straight answer.
Get in Touch