Migrating municipal software involves transferring records, checking imported data and bringing the destination application into service. The project assigns responsibility for validating those operations and defines when the old software can be retired before cutover.
HERMES provides a framework for organising results and the decisions that authorise further work. A proportionate application preserves the responsibilities and evidence the project needs without copying every document from a federal programme.
Identify the municipality’s decisions
HERMES is the Swiss Confederation’s project-management method. Its traditional approach distinguishes initiation, design, implementation, deployment and closure. The scenario and deliverables depend on the project.
The method is not automatically mandatory for every municipality. The municipality examines its own rules and the requirements of the engagement, then chooses an appropriate adaptation.
In the example, the sponsor represents the authority that commits to the project and decides whether it continues. The project manager coordinates delivery and reports progress. User representatives check that the functions support real tasks. A small number of people may carry these responsibilities, but the duties must remain clear.
The supplier manages its delivery. The municipality keeps the ability to assess and accept the results. An independent review may supplement internal capacity where the risks or missing skills justify it.
Connect each stage with evidence
This adaptation illustrates five decisions for a simple project. It does not replace the milestones and results of the selected HERMES scenario.
| Stage | Evidence reviewed | Municipal decision |
|---|---|---|
| Initiation | Need, options, whole cost and risks | Choose an option and authorise the project |
| Design | Functions, interfaces and migration approach | Approve the solution to build |
| Implementation | Testable version and recorded gaps | Authorise deployment preparation |
| Deployment | Verified migration and operating arrangements | Accept launch under the agreed conditions |
| Closure | Documentation, ownership and open items | Confirm project closure and follow-up |
Initiation compares options, including an evolution of the existing system where relevant. The municipality identifies the data constraints and cost over the engagement’s duration before committing to a technical choice.
Design translates tasks into acceptance criteria. For a residents’ register, a representative case can test the record, its attachments and exchanges with other systems. The municipality then knows how it will judge delivery.
A design review cannot prevent every incident. It can expose a missing dependency or an uncertain migration assumption before deployment makes correction more expensive.
Prepare migration and operations together
Implementation progressively supplies a system users can try. Tests cover priority functions and the exceptions identified. The record keeps each gap, its significance and the decision made about it. An incomplete result can justify correction, a narrower scope or postponement.
Before launch, the team rehearses migration and checks the result. It also prepares user access and the means to operate and support the service, including rollback conditions. Launch approval considers that whole arrangement.
Closure organises continuity. Operators receive documentation and access, together with the list of open items. The municipality distinguishes them from requests for future development. That separation gives project completion a concrete meaning.
HERMES One offers a lighter approach for small projects. Using fewer means to manage a project still requires identifying who decides and which result supports that decision.
Use the scope definition to prepare procurement
Initiation defines the purchase scope, compares implementation options and estimates their total cost over the planned period. The municipality uses that information to determine the procedure and express its requirements. The article on choosing a municipal IT provider develops the procurement connection.
Contractual commitments and acceptance criteria must describe the same delivery. A promise of successful migration is difficult to assess without agreed data and checks. Aligned documents make the final decision more straightforward.
The method’s value lies in the decisions it enables. A few well-chosen results reviewed at the right time can organise governance for a small municipality, provided the project’s risks determine the effort required.
References
The example is an adaptation. The municipality selects roles and milestones from its actual scenario and applicable rules.