Forward Deployed Engineering Tutorial · Discovery and Scoping · Lesson 6 of 24
Deployment Plans and Milestones
Plan a customer deployment: milestones, dependencies, critical path, risks, and a status update format customers trust.
Milestones tied to outcomes
| Milestone | Done when |
|---|---|
| Access | Credentials, network access and test data available |
| First data flowing | Real data from source systems arrives, validated |
| Pilot | 3-5 real users use the workflow on real cases |
| Production | Monitoring, support, runbook and handover in place; success criteria met |
| Expansion | Next team or workflow scoped |
Dependencies and the critical path
Customer-side dependencies (security review, firewall changes, API keys, data owner approval) usually take longer than engineering. Start them on day one and track them visibly.
from graphlib import TopologicalSorter
tasks = { # name: (days, depends on)
"security review": (15, []), "API credentials": (5, []), "firewall allow-list": (10, ["security review"]),
"build connector": (8, ["API credentials"]), "data validation": (4, ["build connector", "firewall allow-list"]),
"pilot": (10, ["data validation"]),
}
finish = {}
for t in TopologicalSorter({k: set(v[1]) for k, v in tasks.items()}).static_order():
days, deps = tasks[t]
finish[t] = max((finish[d] for d in deps), default=0) + days
path, t = [], "pilot"
while t:
path.append(t)
deps = tasks[t][1]
t = max(deps, key=lambda d: finish[d]) if deps else None
print("pilot can start using real data on day", finish["data validation"])
print("critical path:", " -> ".join(reversed(path)), f"({finish['pilot']} days)")
Output
pilot can start using real data on day 29 critical path: security review -> firewall allow-list -> data validation -> pilot (39 days)
Status updates
Weekly, short, the same format every time: progress against milestones, what's next, risks and asks (what you need from whom by when), and decisions needed. Bad news early, with options.
Test yourself
What usually sits on the critical path of an enterprise deployment?
Writing the codeCustomer-side approvals like security reviews and network accessChoosing coloursUnit tests
Show answer
Answer: Customer-side approvals like security reviews and network access
Start approvals on day one; they often take longer than building.