An IFS implementation with Eqeep runs in four steps: fit-gap review, planning, build and documentation, and testing with your key users. Your team signs off the design before building starts and approves go-live.
We migrate data and guide go-live from a signed-off Solution Design and a project plan with milestones. CRIM documentation records the decisions on configuration, reports, integrations and master data.
How do you choose an IFS implementation partner?
Choose a partner that builds from a design your team signed off, lets your key users make the process decisions and stays involved after go-live. Put the same questions to every candidate and ask for the answers in writing. These are the questions, with how Eqeep works on each point.
| What to check | Question to ask | How Eqeep works |
|---|---|---|
| IFS partner status | Is the partner an IFS partner for the products you need? | Eqeep is an IFS Specialized Partner in the Benelux and implements IFS Cloud for ERP, EAM and FSM. |
| Design before build | Does building start only after you approve a design? | Your team signs off the Solution Design before building starts. |
| Key user involvement | How do your key users take part? | Key users join department workshops, decide on fit-gaps and test the solution before go-live. |
| Written deliverables | What do you receive in writing? | A Solution Design, a project plan with milestones and CRIM documentation for configuration, reports, integrations and master data. |
| Data migration | Is data migration part of the scope? | Yes. Eqeep migrates data during the build and your key users check it during testing. |
| Go-live decision | Who decides on go-live? | Your team gives the final sign-off after testing with your key users. |
| After go-live | What happens after go-live? | Role-specific training for key users and end users, then the handover to maintenance and support. |
| Coming from IFS Applications 10 | Can the partner compare an upgrade with a reimplementation? | Eqeep compares a technical upgrade with reimplementation for your environment. |
What does an IFS implementation involve?
IFS implementation follows analysis and design. Eqeep configures, builds and tests the agreed design with your own experts. We plan the handover to maintenance and support after go-live.
Eqeep is an IFS Specialized Partner in the Benelux. Our IFS Cloud implementation work covers enterprise resource planning (ERP), enterprise asset management (EAM) and field service management (FSM).
How does an IFS implementation run, from design to go-live?
Eqeep reviews the fit-gaps, plans the work, builds the system and tests it with your key users. Your team approves the design and gives the final sign-off before go-live.
Review the fit-gaps before building. Eqeep turns the functional design into a technical design with your key users. Green confirms the standard fit; orange needs a process or configuration choice; red needs a decision on how to proceed. Your team approves the choices in the Solution Design before building starts.
Plan every step to go-live. The Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) sets out the work needed to bring IFS into use. Eqeep uses it to build the schedule, budget and project plan with milestones.
Build the agreed design and record the decisions. Eqeep configures IFS Cloud with your experts, sets up integrations, structures master data and migrates data from the previous system. We record the configuration choices in CRIM documentation covering configuration, reports, integrations and master data. What the system supports depends on the design, available data and IFS product.
Test daily tasks with your key users. Eqeep and your key users test the complete solution against the agreed requirements and their daily work. Your key users review the findings; your team gives the final sign-off before go-live.
How do you know your IFS environment is ready for go-live?
Your IFS environment is ready for go-live when your critical processes work with migrated data, real user roles and a rehearsed cutover. Three steps from IFS’s white paper IFS Implementation Methodology (June 2020) show whether that is the case. Your team names the critical processes in advance.
Solution Acceptance Test. Your key users run business scenarios end to end with migrated data and the configured roles, security and profiles. In IFS’s first test cycles, testers use sample data and full access. That cannot show whether a planner with their own permissions can do the job.
Operational Readiness Test. The team first rehearses the cutover, following the cutover plan. Your key users then rerun complete scenarios on the rehearsal data. Use the rehearsal to time the migration and see which records fail to load.
Go Live Decision. According to IFS, remaining open issues are first agreed and planned, and the readiness of solution and organisation is established. Your team then takes the decision. You can go live with open issues, provided it is clear who resolves each one and by when.
The cutover plan should also fix the last moment to fall back to the old system, and who decides. If the date keeps moving, see how to bring an at-risk IFS programme back under control.
What happens after go-live?
Hypercare follows straight after go-live, a period of agreed extra support for users. According to IFS, the solution passes to support once the defined go-live criteria are met. Agree those criteria before go-live, for example that invoices and deliveries run without the project team’s help.
Decide before go-live who provides first-line support. Under IFS’s support policy (February 2026), the customer organises first-line and end-user support, with one key user as the contact for the IFS Service Center. You can staff that first line yourself or place it with Eqeep’s service desk.
The 2020 white paper still refers to IFS Applications and does not cover IFS Cloud releases. IFS now ships two release updates a year and supports each release for 24 months from general availability. Go live on an older release and the first update will not be far off. Keep the Solution Acceptance Test scenarios for regression testing, and see how we plan and test release updates.
What do you receive from an IFS implementation?
Key user workshops
Workshops with key users from each department to review their processes and requirements.
Solution Design
A Solution Design that records the agreed IFS configuration and requires your sign-off before building.
Project plan
A project plan that sets out the work and milestones for implementation.
CRIM documentation
CRIM documents covering configuration, reports, integrations and master data.
Master data
Master data structured for the agreed processes and industry requirements.
How do key users get involved in an IFS implementation?
Your key users join department workshops, decide on fit-gaps and test the solution before go-live.
If Eqeep has completed analysis with your team, we bring those findings into the workshops. Your people review the design against the work they do.
Key users explain their tasks, challenge assumptions and check the proposed configuration. After go-live, training and education support them in their own roles.
Questions about IFS implementation
How long does an IFS Cloud implementation take?
IFS Cloud implementation time depends on scope, sites, custom code and data quality. Optronica’s historical IFS Field Service Management project took about four months, including migration and integration with AFAS. Analysis and design establishes the plan for your own project. Read the Optronica story.
Is data migration part of the implementation?
Yes. Eqeep migrates data from your previous system during the build, and your key users check it during testing. At Optronica, migration formed part of the approximately four-month IFS Field Service Management project.
We're leaving IFS Applications 10, SAP ECC or JD Edwards. Is that a new implementation?
Moving from SAP ECC or JD Edwards to IFS Cloud is a new implementation. Eqeep plans the design, build, data migration and testing with your team; see SAP ECC6 and JD Edwards migration. For IFS Applications 10, compare a technical upgrade with reimplementation; see technical upgrades.
Can we start directly with implementation?
Yes. Eqeep reviews your existing blueprint or active project through a compact design process with your team. We recommend checking transaction data alongside interviews before building. If an existing project is at risk, see IFS project rescue.
How does Eqeep handle the IFS go-live?
Eqeep prepares go-live with tests by your key users, including on the migrated data. We advise going live only when the processes work with real user roles and the cutover has been rehearsed, with a fixed fallback point. Open issues can remain if each has an owner and a date. Your team takes the decision.
What is CRIM documentation?
CRIM documentation is where Eqeep records the choices for configuration, reports, integrations and master data. The documents describe the chosen setup and the decisions behind it. Your team can review what was set up and why.
This article describes one of the five phases in our approach. Tell us where you stand with IFS. You get one conversation and a clear next step. Discuss your IFS question.
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