Answer
What is the access gate?
The access gate is the point where a Production Build's six-week clock starts: the four roles on the client side are named, access is granted and the usage threshold is signed. Until all three are done, the build clock does not run.
What has to be in place
Three things open the gate:
- The four roles on your side are named. Real people, by name, who own their part of the rollout.
- Access is granted. The systems, data and accounts the build depends on are available.
- The threshold is signed. The behavior metric and the usage level the tool must reach at acceptance are agreed in writing.
Why the clock starts here
A Production Build runs six weeks from the access gate to release. Waiting for logins, data and a decision about who is responsible can eat the first weeks of a project, and those weeks look like build time while nothing is being built. Starting the clock at the gate means the six weeks are six weeks of real work.
Signing the threshold at the gate also matters. The number that decides whether the crew is using the tool is fixed before anyone knows how the build will go, so neither side can move it later.
Once the clock is running, it pauses while work is blocked on your side, with the reason recorded, and it ends at release to the agreed production environment with the agreed user group. The full clock policy is on how we work.
Questions people ask
Why does the clock not start at contract signing?
Because building cannot start without the people, the access and the signed threshold. Starting the clock at the access gate keeps the six weeks honest.
What is the usage threshold?
The level of use of one agreed behavior metric that the tool must reach at acceptance, counted from your own operating records.
What happens if work is blocked after the gate?
The clock pauses while the work is blocked on your side, with the reason recorded.