Operational Keys for a Successful WMS Go-Live

White papers

WMS

Operational Keys for a Successful WMS Go-Live

Outlines five operational workstreams required for WMS implementation success: change management, testing, training, cutover, and hyper care.

Published

June 4, 2026

Read time

3 min read

Source

Manhattan Associates

This whitepaper details the operational activities that fall to the customer during a WMS deployment. It covers change management leadership, testing types and resource planning, training ownership, cutover data migration and mock runs, plus hyper-care KPI monitoring and support structures. Emphasis is placed on early planning to protect service levels and customer commitments during transition.

Key takeaways

Assign a dedicated Change Management Lead from project start to handle impacts across DC, customer service, HR, and trading partners.

Customer-led testing includes functional, integration, load, UAT, and compliance validation; a Test Lead must be assigned early.

Training is an ongoing process owned internally; vendors provide only initial orientation and configuration training.

Cutover planning covers data migration, mock cutovers, and detailed go/no-go criteria to protect inventory accuracy and order flow.

Hyper care requires KPI dashboards, help-desk escalation, on-site staffing schedules, and communications plans for rapid issue resolution.

Market overview

SCR methodology note

Vendor landscape

Leaders

Implementation considerations

Important consideration

Original Source

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