Support and handover / Handover checklist
Ecommerce agency handover: what to accept before go-live
Make the system usable by the people who will run it.
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A useful handover lets your team perform routine tasks and respond to a failure with a known escalation path. Agree the evidence before go-live so documentation, access, and support coverage are part of delivery.
Specify the handover package
| Deliverable | What to verify | Person who accepts it |
|---|---|---|
| Account inventory | Business owner, billing contact, recovery route | Business owner |
| Code and release history | Agreed repository access and a documented release process | Technical owner |
| Operating guide | Routine tasks, failure signals, escalation details | Operations lead |
| Integration inventory | Connected systems, data owners, renewal dates | System owner |
| Recovery procedure | Tested steps and limits for restoring service | Technical and business owners |
| Support agreement | Hours, scope, response targets, exclusions, costs | Budget owner |
Keep credentials in the agreed secret manager or password manager. The handover document should identify where access is managed, rather than contain passwords or unrestricted API keys.
Run a practical handover exercise
Ask someone from your team to complete a routine task using the documentation. For a store, that could be updating a product and checking the result, finding an order, or following an integration alert to the right support contact.
Then demonstrate a safe recovery scenario in a suitable test environment. Record the action, expected result, observed result, and remaining limitation. Avoid treating an untested backup setting as proof that a restore works.
If the receiving team needs the agency to explain every step, update the guide and repeat the exercise. The point is to identify missing knowledge while the delivery team is available.
Separate support promises
Ask what the quoted response time means: acknowledgment, investigation, or restoration. Record coverage hours, time zone, escalation channels, and how urgent incidents are classified. Include the arrangements for weekends or promotional events if they matter to the business.
Routine updates, platform changes, incident response, and new features can have different pricing and approval processes. Make those boundaries explicit. A retainer can be valuable when the covered work and availability match the operation.
Review access at the transition
Confirm which accounts your business controls and which belong to service providers. On Shopify, collaborator access allows scoped external access. Review permissions against the remaining work and remove access when it is no longer needed.
For custom services, document ownership of domains, hosting, repositories, and monitoring. Agree how access will change if the supplier relationship ends. Have the relevant owners review contractual ownership terms; a technical access check alone does not settle those terms.
Give the first month an owner
Keep a list of known issues, unresolved decisions, and upcoming renewals. Schedule the agreed review of errors, support requests, and the next release. Make it clear who can approve additional work.
Devekko's delivery approach includes release preparation and operating guidance within the agreed scope. Bring this checklist to the proposal discussion so the handover is priced and accepted with the rest of the project.
Your next step
Plan your release and handover
Share the task, your current systems, and the decision you need to make. We’ll discuss a useful first scope.
Plan your release and handover