Project Toolkit

Early Life Support

Early Life Support

Providing enhanced support immediately after go-live to ensure successful adoption.

Early Life Support

Early Life Support (ELS), also known as Hypercare, provides enhanced support immediately after go-live to stabilise the solution and support users.

Purpose

Early Life Support ensures:

  • Issues are resolved quickly
  • Users are supported during transition
  • Defects are identified and fixed
  • Solution stabilises before BAU
  • Lessons are captured

ELS Timeline

flowchart LR A[Go-Live] --> B[ELS
Period] B --> C[Transition
Review] C --> D[BAU
Handover] D --> E[Normal
Operations] classDef blue fill:#108BB9,stroke:none,color:#fff class A,B,C,D,E blue

Typical ELS duration: 2-4 weeks depending on complexity

ELS vs BAU Support

Aspect Early Life Support BAU Support
Duration Fixed period (2-4 weeks) Ongoing
Staffing Enhanced, project team involved Standard support team
Response Faster SLAs Normal SLAs
Focus Stabilisation, adoption Maintenance, incidents
Escalation Direct to project team Standard process

ELS Activities

Activity Purpose
Floor walking On-site user support
Incident triage Rapid issue assessment
Defect fixing Quick resolution of bugs
User coaching Help users adapt
Performance monitoring Track system health
Feedback collection Gather user input
Daily stand-ups Coordinate support efforts

ELS Team Structure

Role Responsibility
ELS Manager Coordinate support activities
Technical lead Resolve technical issues
Business analyst Support process questions
Trainers Provide additional coaching
Floor walkers On-site user assistance
Support desk Log and track issues

Issue Management

Priority Levels

Priority Description Response Resolution
P1 Critical System down 15 mins 4 hours
P2 High Major function broken 30 mins 8 hours
P3 Medium Function impaired 2 hours 24 hours
P4 Low Minor issue 4 hours 48 hours

Daily ELS Routine

Time Activity
Morning Stand-up, review overnight issues
Throughout day Floor walking, incident support
Afternoon Issue triage, defect prioritisation
End of day Status report, handover to next day

Monitoring During ELS

Track these metrics:

Metric Why
Incident count Volume of issues
Resolution time Speed of fixes
User adoption System usage levels
Performance Response times, errors
User satisfaction Feedback scores

Exit Criteria

ELS ends when:

  • Incident volumes at acceptable level
  • No critical defects outstanding
  • Users operating independently
  • Performance within targets
  • Support team ready for BAU
  • Knowledge transfer complete
  • Lessons learned captured

Transition to BAU

flowchart LR A[ELS
Review] --> B[Confirm
Readiness] B --> C[Formal
Handover] C --> D[BAU
Begins] classDef blue fill:#108BB9,stroke:none,color:#fff class A,B,C,D blue

Handover Includes

  • Outstanding issues list
  • Known workarounds
  • User feedback summary
  • Recommendations for improvement
  • Updated documentation

Common Pitfalls

Pitfall Mitigation
Too short ELS period Plan adequate duration
Project team exits too early Ensure proper handover
No success criteria Define exit criteria upfront
Insufficient staffing Resource appropriately
Poor issue tracking Use formal logging process

ELS Checklist

  • ELS plan created?
  • Team assigned and briefed?
  • Support tools ready?
  • Escalation paths defined?
  • SLAs agreed?
  • Monitoring in place?
  • Exit criteria defined?
  • BAU team ready to receive?
Last updated: 13 January 2026
Themes

Closure

Operations