The difference between a system that was installed and a system that works is a written test somebody agreed to before the work started.
Handover is where that becomes real: certification results for every link, an as-built set that matches what was installed, a commissioning report written against the agreed test, and a device register carrying serial numbers and the date support ends. A handover should prove the customer outcome, beyond device power.
The test earns its place when it is adversarial. A witnessed failover is the network actually breaking and recovering while somebody times it. A retrieval exercise is footage produced from a date named on the day. Anything softer than that is a description of a system rather than evidence of one.
Questions Worth Taking Forward
- What does acceptance mean here, in writing, before work starts?
- Who witnesses it, and what do they put their name to?
- What can be demonstrated rather than described?
- What does the team inheriting this need on day one?