Acceptance starts before configuration
Acceptance criteria are written during scoping, not the day before cutover. They are then used to judge the trial, the pilot and every upgrade.
- ScopingWritten acceptance criteria
- TrialScenario on fictitious data
- PilotReal data, one scope
- Blocking gap?Yes: fix and retest. No: signed acceptance record.
- Go-liveAcceptance rerun at every upgrade
The structure of a step
- Step identifier and title.
- Role that performs it.
- Starting data.
- Action to perform.
- Expected result, verifiable by a third party.
- Status: compliant, minor gap or blocking gap.
An example
Step B-03: the production manager launches the manufacturing order for 20 units from the sales order. Expected result: components reserved, operations scheduled on the right work centers, planned cost displayed.
Covering the difficult cases
Component shortage, scrap, rework, partial quantity, cancellation, subcontracting and correction of an entry error: these cases reveal more defects than the nominal flow.
Recording the gaps
Each gap gets a severity, an owner, a decision and a date. The signed acceptance record lists the accepted gaps and those that block go-live.
Limits
An acceptance scenario checks expected behavior; it measures neither performance under load nor security, which need their own tests.