A Dynamics 365 CE go-live checklist is a list of the items that should be completed before the end user starts using the system for their day-to-day work. This checklist can help us to ensure that we have not missed anything important. It is recommended to prepare a checklist in the initial project phase and verify each item listed in the checklist before releasing the new system to users. Depending on the project type, this checklist may be different. For example, if we are working on an upgrade, it may have different items than if you are working on a fresh Dynamics 365 CE implementation. The following table includes common checklist items:

Let's discuss these checklist items for a Dynamics 365 CE implementation one by one, as follows:

• Are all user stories complete?: We need to make sure that all the agreed user stories are completed for this release. These user stories are agreed upon during project planning. We need to make sure that all the user stories are tested and verified by the testing team as well as the User Acceptance Testing (UAT) team.
• Is UAT complete?: We discussed the UAT process in detail in Chapter 10, Testing and User Training Planning. Before releasing the system to end users, we need to make sure UAT is completed and signed off. UAT ensures that the new system is based on the customer's expectations and that there are no gaps in the functionality developed.

• Is user training complete?: User training is critical in making a Dynamics 365 CE implementation successful. It helps us to improve user adoption. If the user only knows about the new Dynamics 365 CE functionality that we used to build the new system, then they won't be able to use the new system properly.
• Get a list of production users: We should verify whether we have got a list of production users and their respective security roles from the customer to make sure that all users can be set up in the production environment before go-live.
• Is the production environment setup complete?: Another checklist point is to make sure the production environment is set up correctly. If we are going to use any integration in our project, it should also be set up correctly.
• Is all historical data uploaded?: Data is a critical part of any business application, so we need to make sure that if there is a master, it is present in the system—for example, setting up products, price lists, and currencies. If a customer has historical data, it should be imported and verified in the new system by the customer so that users can refer to it, if and when required.
• Is the change request procedure setup complete?: When the user starts using the new system, they may want to modify some of the existing processes, or perhaps they'll want to add some new functionality. It is important to make sure the change request procedure is set up so that users can request new changes and we can plan for adding those functionalities in the next release.
• Is the documentation complete?: Documentation is another critical checklist item, where we need to make sure that we have documented all the functionality that our customer is going to use. This is very helpful if any changes are required and for providing knowledge transfer to new project resources or customer team members.

All the preceding points should be documented and verified one by one against the production environment. The preceding checklist is common in a Dynamics 365 CE implementation, but we can add more checklist items based on our projects.

Although the new system is tested completely and UAT is also completed successfully, we should create a quick sample test in the production environment to make sure all the functionalities are working perfectly.

Now, we have a list of the common checklist items that we need to complete before go-live. In the next section, we are going to discuss the main configurations required before go-live.