A modernization program can be on time, on budget, and staffed by people you trust, and you can still find yourself a week from cutover without a straight answer to the question that matters: will this work?

It might “look right” in a demo, or maybe the engineering team’s even assured you it’s done. But you need the assurance that it will work when you need it to, while running your critical business processes.

Here are five questions to ask before sign-off, written for whoever’s authorizing the cutover. If the team modernizing your legacy system can't answer any of these plainly, it’s a strong signal to spend more time digging into the issues.

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If your team can answer all five questions with evidence, you're in good shape to authorize cutover—anything less, and you risk critical operational gaps after go-live. Ideally, you'll have considered these factors before your modernization project starts.

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