It is critical to validate if sufficient knowledge is exchanged to Capgemini team to enable them to deliver the service as defined in the statement of work or contract. An assessment on the success of Knowledge Exchange through variety of methods, both subjective and objective must be conducted. Any gaps identified, needs to be documented and accepted by the Delivery Manager.

Some methods that can be used are: individual’s self assessment, review by incumbent SME/ Delivery Manager, review by Capgemini Delivery Manager, checklist of topics covered, problem resolution tests, quizzes or tests on services and documentation updates. The Knowledge Exchange Lead should  review the Knowledge Exchange Acceptance Criteria, since it contains the items to be tested. It is essential for plan for these in advance. The key items will be those that require input from the Client:

SME assessment- These are assessments by the incumbent SME. The SME needs to be informed to provide the assessment & they should keep this in mind when conducting shadows, and especially reverse work shadows.

Ticket tests- In this assessment, the incumbent SME needs to select sample tickets, representative of the actual day-to-day activities, to be resolved by the recipient teams. The best way to ensure this is to use problem logs as a guide. For example, if a log analysis shows that the data integrity tickets are most common, then the sample tickets should be focused on data tickets.

Process tests- Testing the ability to comply with processes using standard tools is typically done through a process scenario test. These tests  follow the end to end life cycle of a ticket. The delivery teams are asked to perform steps in this process while being evaluated by the Delivery Manager.

Quizzes and Q&A- This assessment is about the Knowledge Exchange Recipients responding to questions created by SMEs. These questions should typically cover areas that ticket tests cannot. For example, general architectural concepts are difficult to generate a sample ticket for.

Playback Sessions-  In some cases,  it may have been agreed with the customer that the Knowledge Exchange Recipients provide playback sessions to the customer once the Knowledge Exchange is over.

Once prepared, Knowledge Exchange Lead  must ensure that the testing materials are distributed to the delivery team and SMEs in advance of the actual assessment. It is recommended that a follow up meeting is held with each of these groups to explain the process and logistics of the testing to ensure that expectations are set. The results from the Knowledge Exchange achievement testing and Service Delivery Transition Acceptance Certificate should be reviewed internally by Capgemini prior to the Client being provided the report.

A remediation plan must be put in place if a significant amount of the items as per the Knowledge Exchange Acceptance Criteria are incomplete. This may involve moving back the go-live date for a service (to be avoided if at all possible). It is important to monitor the progress of Knowledge Exchange throughout the project. All risks and assumptions need to be reviewed and the Sservice Delivery Team must accept the mitigation plans.