Web to Print System Roll Out (Launch) Best Practices for In-Plant Print Centers Article #3
This is the third post in our series, “Web to Print Best Practices for In-Plant Print Centers.” In the series, I’m covering eight topics, including:installation, roll out, marketing the system and more. In my last post post, I offered Seven Installation Best Practices and a Few Purchasing Tips. In this post, I’ll discuss roll out best practices.
Don’t want to wait for the full series? 
Over the years I’ve worked with many customers on their Web to print roll out plans and ideas. These roll outs, or launches, take several forms, and some work better than others. In my experience, the most successful roll outs are gradual, starting with a pilot group, adding new groups of customers in stages – offering tools along the way to help users use the new system, and using customer feedback to make adjustments along the way.
- The Big Bang Can Cause a Big Bump
The “Big Bang” roll out is where everything in the system has to be 100% functional and the entire company is “turned on” in one day. Some systems have to be rolled out this way- like the affordable care signup system. These systems take significant preparation and testing time and can include risk. What kind of risk? Think about 500,000 users all coming to your print ordering site on day one. Avoid the “big bang” method if you can: oversights and unintended results are common with this method.
