Transition-Out Plan Template

1. Executive Summary

The purpose of the executive summary for the transition-out plan is to describe the transition plan at a high level and what the plan should accomplish. This section of the transition plan should include an overview and history of the contract, who the contract is currently with, who it is transitioning to, and the timeframe/period of transition.

This plan formally documents the process for the transition of the powers, duties, activities, and functions of tasks and tools for the PayBase contract (Contract # 11-10159). It describes the approach to transitioning work and employees from ABC Corporation (incumbent contractor) to XYZ Inc. The PayBase contract is for the creation and implementation of a new payroll database for Smith Consulting Group (SCG). This database will allow SCG to integrate all payroll tracking and reporting into a consolidated database. This contract is currently with ABC Corporation and will transition to XYZ Inc. will be completed no later than 180 days after contract award. The period of performance is from January 1, 20xx to December 31, 20xx. The value of the contract is $2,000,000.00.

2. Transition Approach

This section of the contract transition-out plan discusses the overall approach to the transition. Some items which must be considered are: will you scale down your staff during the transition or will you bring in additional staff to handle and manage the transition? How long is the transition? What are your assumptions (i.e., the staff of the new contractor will be available onsite to participate in the transition and receive knowledge transfer, etc.)?

For this transition, ABC Corporation will maintain its existing staff on-site throughout the transition period. No additional staffing requirements are anticipated to complete the transition to XYZ Inc. The transition is expected to take 60 days to complete. Immediately prior to the transition, ABC Corporation will stand up its transition team in order to facilitate the activities necessary for successful transition. It is assumed that XYZ Inc. will have its staff on site at the beginning of the 60-day transition period and will establish a similar team to work with ABC Corporation to coordinate the contract’s transition. It is also assumed that SCG will provide adequate workspace for both contractors throughout the duration of the transition. SCG should also designate a transition project manager to work with both contractors throughout the transition.

3. Transition Team Organization

This section of the transition-out plan should provide an organizational chart showing all resources and their roles in the transition (i.e., Transition Project Manager, etc.). Key team members should be from both the incumbent and new contractors as well as the customer.

The following chart illustrates the transition team members from SCG, ABC Corporation, and XYZ Inc. as well as the roles and responsibilities of each team member.

4. Workforce Transition

It is not uncommon for the workforce to transition from one contractor to another as part of the contract transition. The workforce may stay in place with the client or customer and simply “re-badge” from the incumbent to the new contractor. It is also common for the incumbent workforce to leave the site once the transition is completed and approved. In order to set expectations and allow for adequate transition planning, the workforce must be determined and communicated ahead of time.

For this contract transition, all workforce members will remain with their current organization. The incumbent (ABC Corp) workforce will remain on-site to perform their transition activities until such time that the transition is completed and approved by all parties. The new contractor (XYZ Inc.) will ensure its workforce is on site 60 days prior to transition completion. This will allow adequate time to perform all transition activities. SCG will provide additional temporary workspace for XYZ Inc. employees until transition completion, at which time the workforce will occupy the vacated locations of the outgoing ABC Corp workforce.

5. Work Execution During Transition

Discuss the level of work which is to be performed during the transition period and the impact of the transition on that work (i.e., system maintenance, software development, support services, etc.).

Throughout the transition of this contract, work will continue to be performed by ABC Corp in accordance with the approved project schedule and work breakdown structure (WBS) in place. The transition management team will ensure that XYZ Inc. employees work alongside their ABC Corp. counterparts; however, ABC will maintain all responsibility for tasks and deliverables. At the end of the 60-day transition period, and upon transition approval, XYZ Inc. will assume full responsibility for all tasks and deliverables.

6. Subcontracts

Here the project transition-out plan documents all the existing contracts and if/how they will be transitioned. It should contain this information in a table format (subcontract agreements, software/hardware maintenance contracts, etc.).

The following chart illustrates the subcontracts in place which are in support of SCG’s PayBase activity. These subcontracts apply to third party tasks to ensure all required cabling and facilities functionality is in place to support the PayBase project.

7. Property Transition

7.1 Government Furnished Equipment (GFE)

This section of the transition plan describes the transition of any equipment for a scenario where the customer is a government entity and provides the contractor with government property. This property may include hardware such as laptops/PCs, software bundles or add-ons, portable electronic devices (PEDs), and security badges. Typically, GFE will be turned back over to the government customer during a transition and may or may not be re-issued to the new contractor.

As part of this transition, all GFE provided to ABC Corp under the PayBase contract will be turned in to the government upon completion and approval of the transition phase. GFE includes laptop computers, all PEDs, flash and external hard drives, and employee ID badges. All electronic devices will be re-imaged by government IT personnel and re-issued to appropriate XYZ Inc. employees.

7.2 Incumbent Owned Equipment

Equipment owned by the incumbent contractor will usually remain with them when they transition off of the contract. However, there may be instances where incumbent-owned equipment supports customer applications and services. This section should state that incumbent-owned equipment will remain with the incumbent – and identify options where this equipment may be available for purchase by the new contractor or customer for their use (i.e., application server and application for help desk, etc.).

All incumbent-owned equipment will remain with the incumbent upon completion and approval of the transition. This equipment includes incumbent-issued laptops and PEDs, organizational tools, organizational process maps, and company ID badges. If it is determined that any incumbent-owned equipment is required to stay with the customer to ensure successful completion of the contract, the customer and incumbent contracting officer representatives will coordinate procurement of the equipment through the customer’s established procurement management process.

7.3 Intellectual Property

This section of the contract transition-out plan template should describe how intellectual property will be handled as part of the transfer process. Intellectual property may include various documentation, supplier and subcontractor information, service agreements, or original designs or plans. Intellectual property generates many legal considerations and may include the completion of non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) between the incumbent and the customer. Intellectual property may be transferred, sold, or retained by the incumbent depending on the contractual agreements in place.

Per the PayBase contract, all intellectual property which is a direct result of work on the contract deliverables will be transitioned to the new contractor in order to ensure the successful completion of the project. The contract pricing takes intellectual property into consideration and as such, any resulting intellectual property will be owned by the customer.

7.4 User Accounts and Passwords

This section of the template should discuss how any accounts will be transitioned, who they will be transitioned to (i.e., system administrator accounts). Provide a table of all user accounts to be transitioned/disabled.

As part of the contract transition, various user account accesses and authorizations must be created and disabled. Currently ABC personnel listed in the chart below possess the user accounts and access necessary for contract deliverables. The listed XYZ Inc. employees will be granted access on the first day of the contract transition phase. Once transition is complete and approved, all ABC Corp personnel’s user accounts will be disabled.

8. Knowledge Transfer

This section of the project transition-out plan should discuss how knowledge will be transferred from the incumbent staff to the staff of the new contractor (documentation/instruction manuals including as-built documents, formal training classes, one-on-one training/knowledge transfer, etc.). This is an important consideration as the transfer of knowledge is what provides continuity for the contract.

For this transition, knowledge transfer will occur over the entirety of the 60-day transition period. The knowledge transfer will take place via various methods. The incumbent PM will coordinate two formal classroom training sessions to be conducted by the incumbent IT Transition Lead. These sessions will focus on the specific IT concerns related to the database tasks and activities. The incumbent PM will also coordinate two formal classroom sessions to be conducted by the incumbent Configuration Manager. These sessions will cover documentation requirements and organizational processes and assets. These sessions will be completed no later than 15 days prior to the end of the 60-day transition period. Additionally, all XYZ Inc. staff will work alongside their ABC Corp counterparts throughout the 60-day period in order to gain familiarity with the database, tools, processes, and organizational assets. The PMs from ABC Corp., XYZ, Inc., and the customer will meet no later than 10 days prior to transition completion in order to determine if any further training or knowledge transfer is required.

9. Schedule

This part of the transition plan should contain a GANTT chart schedule of the transition. The complexity of the transition will dictate the level of detail required in the schedule. However, all major milestones as well as transition start and completion dates should be included at a minimum.

The following GANTT chart illustrates the schedule for transition of the PayBase contract from ABC Corp. to XYZ Inc. Any changes to this schedule will require review and approval from the customer and all other parties.

10. Handover and Acceptance

This section of the contract transition-out plan should discuss how the customer will formally accept the handover at the end of the transition. This may include whether or not there is a checklist for acceptance or formal signoff. There are typically several people who need to accept the handover (i.e., security office for all badges, IT Manager for system accounts, Contracts Manager, etc.).

The customer will make the determination of when transition is completed and will provide formal acceptance indicating such. To do this, the customer’s transition PM will utilize the established transition checklist in order to determine that all activities associated with the transition have been completed. The customer’s transition PM will also meet with the transition PMs from each contractor to ensure that all concerns and issues have been met and addressed appropriately. Once the customer’s transition PM has formally accepted the transition, the checklist and supporting documentation will be signed and accepted by the customer’s project sponsor and the company’s human resources director. The last step is the formal acceptance and signature of the customer’s contracting officer representative. It is only after all of these approvals and signatures are in place that the transition will be considered complete.

You can download this Transition Plan template by clicking on the Download Template link at the top of this page.