Workshop implementation and follow-up
The following sections describe how to implement the Dual-write implementation workshop and then conduct follow-up sessions for more in-depth information.
Dual-write implementation workshop review participants
The Dual-write implementation workshop is an excellent chance to provide a baseline for the core project team on the overall dual-write usage. Having the broader team present in the workshop can be a helpful way to provide context to the team. In some cases, due to the size of the implementation team, it might be necessary to limit the participation in the workshop to core members of the implementation team. With that in mind, you should consider the following guidelines:
The workshop should be attended by representatives from the customer organization and the organization that is completing the implementation. Part of the review's value is providing a common understanding of the solution across all involved parties.
The workshop should include the project manager and solution architects from the customer and the implementation team. If the customer doesn't have the solution architect role in their organization, then the responsible technical stakeholder(s) should be involved. If the implementation team doesn't have a designated solution architect who is responsible for the project, then the equivalent delivery lead, functional lead, or technical architects should be involved.
In some cases, it might be necessary to bring in specific resources for specific topics, which can be accommodated based on the breakdown of the solution in the workshop agenda.
Implement the Dual-write implementation workshop
The Dual-write implementation workshop will be facilitated by the solution architect, but the expectation is that the implementation team will present the information. Each section of the agenda should be assigned an owner within the implementation team. At the beginning of the session, the owner should present an overview or summary of the scope and plans, including the designs that apply to that aspect of the solution. The team should plan for that summary to take between 25 to 50 percent of the allotted time, but no more. The remainder of the time should be reserved for questions and answers with the solution architect.
Workshop review outputs
The output of the Dual-write implementation workshop is a findings document. This findings document is a response to information that has been provided as preparation for the workshop or during the workshop. Generally, these findings will be of three types:
Assertions - These findings relate to specific aspects of the solution that the solution architect wants to call out as architecturally significant. These assertions are factors that might not represent a specific risk or issue but are foundational to the solution and should be noted because, if changed, they will have significant impact. These assertions might relate to specific scope items, design aspects of the solution architecture, or implementation approach or technique.
Risks - These findings represent an aspect of the solution or implementation approach that constitute a risk that should be tracked on the project. These risks could relate to existing plans, approaches, or designs that have an observed potential for negative outcomes. They could also be related to areas of the solution that have not been adequately explored yet, and as such, represent a risk that something unexpected could come up. These findings will be accompanied by a statement of what is viewed as a risk, along with recommended mitigation steps.
Issues - These findings represent an aspect of the solution or implementation approach that constitute an issue that is negatively impacting the implementation, or if not corrected, will have a negative impact in the future. These findings will be accompanied by a statement of what the impact is or will be, along with recommended resolution steps.
The findings document will be distributed to the customer and partner organizations, and a meeting will be held to review the findings in detail. The document will go to the implementation leadership and executive sponsors in both organizations. In some cases, these findings documents can be lengthy, in which case, an executive summary that highlights key and critical findings is provided for better consumption by executives.
Workshop follow-up
After the Dual-write implementation workshop has been conducted and the findings have been reviewed, those items that have been identified as risks and issues, and their associated action items for mitigation and resolution, will be managed to completion as part of the overall engagement.
Identified issues will often have an impact on the ability to successfully go live. These issues will need to be resolved prior to the go-live readiness assessment and the deployment of a production environment.
Risks and their associated recommended mitigations can be managed according to the overall strategy of the project, but they will be monitored throughout the project. Risks that are not mitigated might be realized later as issues that could also affect the go live.
Follow-up and in-depth workshops need to be supported by the project team as recommended. These follow-up workshops can affect risk and issue areas that are identified within the Dual-write implementation workshop, and they can also affect areas that require the next level of details due to complexity.