The system runs, but docs sit on the integrator's laptop and only they can change interfaces. That is not a successful go-live—it is lock-in. Digital intelligence must not bind the enterprise to one implementer: exportable configuration, returnable permissions, and a second team productive within ninety days. Lock-in tax shows up at renewal and change requests when you have no leverage.
Replaceability is not firing someone today. It is always keeping the right to switch.
Write Exit Into the Contract
Deliverables include config inventory, interface specs, data dictionary, and operator coaching. Source or config does not live on personal laptops. Key roles are dual-staffed—no single onsite hero as a single point of failure. Acceptance includes a simulated handover: another team completes one change from documentation.
- Minimize customization; required custom work must be configurable.
- Accounts and certificates belong to the buyer; integrators get temporary access.
- Annual maintenance includes knowledge transfer sessions—not remote watch only.
Replaceability Is Governance
The XYN digital intelligence system keeps scenario configuration with the buyer—integrators may come or go. Binding should sit on master data and process, not one person's experience. Replaceability keeps partnerships healthy; without it, partnerships become dependency.
Ask the integrator for a package that lets a second vendor start. If they cannot produce it, lock-in already happened—fix it before renewal.
