Need to explain the plan internally before anyone approves a budget?
A Salesforce implementation runs through eight stages: discovery, solution design, build and configuration, data migration, testing, training and change management, go-live and cutover, then hypercare and ongoing support. Each stage has deliverables you can review and decisions only your team can make.
Deliverables: Process maps, system inventory, data assessment, integration list, prioritised backlog.
Your decisions: What is in phase one, which processes change, and which reports define success.
Deliverables: Target architecture, data model, security and sharing model, integration design, costed roadmap.
Your decisions: Configure versus customise, single or multi-org, and how master data will be governed.
Deliverables: Configured clouds, automation, custom Lightning components, integrations, sprint demos.
Your decisions: Trade-offs raised in sprint reviews; scope changes handled through a written change process.
Deliverables: Cleansing rules, mapping sheets, trial loads, reconciliation reports, final cutover load.
Your decisions: How much history moves, how duplicates are resolved, and who signs off data accuracy.
Deliverables: Test scripts, functional and regression results, integration tests, performance and security checks, UAT sign-off.
Your decisions: Defect severity thresholds and the go/no-go criteria for cutover.
Deliverables: Role-based training, quick-reference guides, champion network, communication plan.
Your decisions: Who champions each team and how adoption will be measured after go-live.
Deliverables: Cutover runbook, final data load, access provisioning, day-one support rota, rollback plan.
Your decisions: Cutover window, freeze period on legacy systems, and escalation path.
Deliverables: Daily triage, fixes, adoption coaching, backlog for phase two, transition to managed support.
Your decisions: Support model, release cadence and whether internal capacity or on-demand specialists carry it.