Most people building software these days follow some kind of agile practice where software is available to test as it gets built. Try using it and continue doing so as soon as it is available. Early feedback is very helpful, especially in terms of thinking through which features are high priority and which aren't.
Even if you're not going to do this, actually spend some time to test the software. It continues to surprise me how unwilling people are to actually just start using the thing they are paying money to get built. This is a problem that can't really be solved with money. Time needs to be allocated to appropriately steer development.
You wouldn't believe how many times I've been through the following:
client: I've got a presentation- could you setup the app with example data for it?
tech: Good news, the server is up so you can login, try it out and use that for your presentation. c: Oh, I'm working on my slides just now. It's next week could you do this?
t: Uh .... ok, I might need to set aside from that last feature ... [two weeks later] t: Hey, hope you had a good weekend. How did the presentation go?
c: Oh yeah that!! Well actually it got delayed to next month. How's that widget feature coming?
t: Oh. Uh... haven't quite finished that yet.
If you've hired a team or a consultant to build software, let them get on and build it. Providing operational support or data entry isn't what they are there for. It's quite likely this is wastefully expensive. Also, this relates to the point above. Start testing and using your own software!
If you're building software, look out for this 'task creep'. Demo-ing progress is something you need to do, but recognise the difference between your clients demos/pitches/meetings/etc and your own. Remind your clients that this is still work. Spinning up a separate environment, creating and seeding example data all takes time.
How are you going to handle things once the tech team intervention is over. A few things to think about:
- Documentation and training
- Who is going to update or provide content longer term?
- Where will the solution be hosted? What happens if it needs a restart?
- What happens when Apple/Google/TechCorp next updates their platform?
It's all for nothing if you don't have a good plan to share.
It doesn't matter how good your thing is. It doesn't matter how technically magical it is. It could be a masterpiece. Even if you have loads of contacts to email, it doesn't mean they will respond immediately. People may not find their way to the link in that email for weeks at a time.