The three-month plan
The programme that turns the Stop · Go · Build decision into sequenced work: three tracks running in parallel, a small number of hard dependencies between them, and a gate at every point where one track releases another. This page is the starting-point plan — the shape and the dependencies are settled; squad allocation and calendar dates need Leadership.
The three tracks
- STOP — pause & fix. Squads pause legacy DTS feature work to remediate debt, close security gaps and take cost out (tech-debt audit, security-gap assessment, FinOps review). A product leaves STOP only through the Definition of Stable gate, and its onward disposition is set by the portfolio framework.
- GO — build the engine. Squads stand up the RAPID engine: the shared toolkit, one end-to-end process, the gates, and the UK + India squad shapes (operating model, squad playbook).
- BUILD — prove it. A dedicated squad takes StudyBuddy from legacy to rebuild under a signed pilot charter — the first product built at RAPID pace, and the evidence that gates everything after it.
The dependency map
Three dependencies do most of the sequencing work:
- STOP exit gates unblock rebuilds. No product enters the RAPID pipeline until it passes Definition of Stable — you cannot safely point agents at an unstable estate. StudyBuddy goes first, so its remediation, DORA baseline and knowledge pack are the STOP track's earliest priority.
- The minimum-viable toolkit gates the StudyBuddy build. Definition and Design can start on drafts, but the Build phase does not start until the checklist below passes — otherwise the pilot proves improvisation, not the pattern.
- StudyBuddy proves the pattern before CXsmart. Applying RAPID to a bigger product is an explicit go/no-go at the CXsmart scale-up gate, decided on pilot-charter evidence — not on enthusiasm.
The minimum-viable toolkit
The checklist GO must complete before StudyBuddy's Build phase starts. Owned by the Toolkit Guild; deliberately minimal — everything else can be built while the pilot runs:
- Gate cards live for the pipeline transitions — Definition of Ready through Production Readiness.
- Definition artefacts ready — the PFD template and the task-brief prompt proven on at least one dry run.
- Guardrails enforced in the scaffold — agent guardrails, secrets management and the CI/CD standard wired into the RAPID project scaffold, not documented beside it.
- Metrics instrumented — the four DORA keys captured automatically from day one of the rebuild (metrics platform).
- Squad onboarded — the StudyBuddy squad through onboarding with agent access, budgets and permissions in place.
Month by month — skeleton
Month boundaries are placeholders until Leadership sets dates; the sequencing within each track is the commitment.
| Month | STOP | GO | BUILD | Squads |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Client-commitment triage; tech-debt, security-gap and ways-of-working audits; FinOps review; StudyBuddy remediation prioritised | Tooling evaluation; gate cards and core templates drafted; scaffold v1 | StudyBuddy DORA baseline and legacy knowledge pack; Definition starts | TBD |
| 2 | Remediation sprints; secrets sweep complete; StudyBuddy (and first wave) through Definition of Stable | Minimum-viable-toolkit checklist passed; squad shapes agreed; metrics platform live | Design and Tech selection; Build starts once the toolkit checklist passes | TBD |
| 3 | Remaining products through STOP exit or dispositioned via the portfolio framework | Guild rhythm running; toolkit gaps from the pilot's friction log closed | Refinement; first Flow-state ⇄ Production turns; operating-model retro; CXsmart scale-up gate | TBD |
Squad allocation across the three tracks, calendar start/finish dates for each month block, and which products join StudyBuddy in the first Definition-of-Stable wave are Leadership decisions. The TBD markers stay until they are made — this plan sequences the work; it does not staff it.
Standards referenced: DORA (baseline and before/after delta).