SOFTWARE HANDOVER CHECKLIST
RapidIteration | https://rapiditeration.com/insights/software-discovery-deliverables/
Version: 2026-10-31

Use this template to plan and record the operational handover.
For your project, record an owner, evidence, open issues and
acceptance date for each relevant item. Mark exclusions explicitly.
Do not put passwords, tokens or personal records in this checklist.

Project:
Release/version:
Business decision owner:
Future operator:
Agreed support contact and hours:
Acceptance date:

1. SCOPE AND ACCEPTANCE
[ ] Agreed journeys, roles and exception paths are documented.
[ ] Acceptance results are recorded, including access and accessibility checks.
[ ] Known defects and limitations have owners and agreed next steps.
[ ] Imported records reconcile; exceptions and old-URL redirects are recorded.
[ ] The release decision and any remaining conditions are documented.

2. ACCOUNTS, RIGHTS AND COSTS
[ ] Domain, DNS, hosting and application account owners are named.
[ ] Repository access and the agreed source delivery are confirmed.
[ ] IP rights, licences and third-party restrictions match the agreement.
[ ] Vendor subscriptions, billing owners and recurring costs are listed.
[ ] Privileged access is transferred securely; temporary access is reviewed.
[ ] Credential rotation and recovery responsibilities are agreed.

3. OPERATION AND RECOVERY
[ ] Setup, configuration and deployment instructions are available.
[ ] A future operator has followed the relevant instructions.
[ ] Backup scope, frequency, retention, storage and owner are recorded.
[ ] Restore instructions have been exercised; results and limitations are noted.
[ ] Monitoring, alert recipients and incident escalation are configured as agreed.
[ ] Rollback steps and the last recoverable version are identified.
[ ] Data export, retention and deletion responsibilities are documented.

4. CONTINUING SUPPORT
[ ] Staff training and operational reference materials are delivered.
[ ] Support scope, response expectations and exclusions are agreed.
[ ] Dependency and security update responsibilities have named owners.
[ ] Change requests have an approval process and a budget decision owner.
[ ] The next review date is agreed.

ITEM RECORD (repeat as needed)
Item:
Responsible owner:
Evidence location (no credentials):
Checked by and date:
Open issue or exclusion:
Decision and next action:

FINAL DECISION
[ ] Accept   [ ] Accept with recorded conditions   [ ] Defer
Decision owner:
Conditions and due dates:
Evidence retained at: