Q: A system is still running. How do we move it from Changping to Wuhan? Just hand over repository access, right?
A: The repository is just the code. Where things actually break usually isn't in the code.
Q: Such as?
A: Such as a cron job running at 2 a.m. that first checks whether a file has arrived on some shared drive; a certificate expiring in November whose renewal reminders go to an alias; an API depending on a CSV the partner's ERP exports daily — and when they change the person in charge, we never know. None of this was ever written down; it lives in 'whoever has always managed it knows.'
Handover Uses Three Things, Not Slides
First, a runtime inventory. Not an architecture diagram — a table: when each cron job runs, who to call when it fails, certificate expiry dates, who provides each external data source, which machines can be rebooted, which directories must never be deleted. That round listed 14 rows; Changping wrote, Wuhan questioned each line, and anything unanswerable got filled in on the spot. The final count: 21 rows.
Second, follow one real release. No rehearsal — wait for the next deploy, Wuhan watching over screen share while Changping operates and narrates: why we back up first, why this window can't ship. That time a small rollback came up — more instructive than a smooth release.
Third, a month of dual sign-off. During that month every merge request gets one reviewer from each side; deploys are still clicked by Changping, but Wuhan must be present. Not distrust — it's making 'taking a look' into a habit.
Q: When is the handover done?
A: We don't set a date; we set a signal: two consecutive weeks with Wuhan independently handling every ticket and no calls to Changping. That round it arrived in week five.
Q: Has a handover ever been rolled back halfway?
A: Once. Not a capability issue — that system's client was used to calling the original person directly; one WeChat message, and the task looped between the two cities. We eventually created a three-person group with the client in it; all tickets flow through the group, and whoever picks one up answers it. The looping stopped.
One Plain Sentence
Handing over a live system isn't transferring 'how it's done' — it's transferring 'what you think of first when things break.' The latter can only be learned by watching screens together for a few weeks. It doesn't fit in a handover document.
