Refine and Reinforce: What To Do After Your Tessitura v16 Upgrade

Part 3 in our three-part series on what to do before, during, and after your Tessitura v16 upgrade. Not yet ready to upgrade, or in the middle of this process? Check out Part 1 & Part 2  for more information.

Phew! After all of that planning and testing, your team is live with Tessitura v16 in the Production environment and using v16 for daily work. Congratulations!

But the opportunity for optimization isn’t done. In fact, the post-upgrade period is when meaningful process improvements take hold.

1. Evaluate Your Outcomes

Take a step back to get feedback 30–60 days after go-live. What’s working better? What still feels clunky or inefficient? What unexpected issues have surfaced?

You might learn that a newly implemented change is saving hours per week—or that a process needs to be adjusted for real-world usage.

2. Tackle the Long-Term Improvements

Revisit those larger process changes you scoped out earlier. Now that your team is settling into v16, you may have more capacity to explore the best methods to track strategic priorities with the tools v16 offers.

Is there lost functionality from v15 or customizations you didn’t yet replace? Perhaps these features were put on hold during the upgrade process due to time constraints or because they were only used intermittently. Now is the time to revisit and address those gaps.

It’s natural for some enhancements or customizations to take a backseat during the initial upgrade phase, but don’t let those go neglected. Addressing them now will ensure that your system fully supports your needs for the long haul.

3. Communicate, Communicate, Communicate 

Change is hard for any team, and a major upgrade like v16 means adjustments across the board.

• Clear communication is key. Ensure everyone is on the same page about new processes, system changes, and the adjusted interface. Transparency will help your team embrace new workflows and follow the new processes seamlessly.
• Gather feedback continuously. Encourage open lines of communication to identify lingering challenges and troubleshoot any issues that pop up. This will help reinforce the best practices and ensure smoother long-term adoption.
• Celebrate successes. Big or small, recognize achievements along the way. Whether it’s saving time by automating reports or streamlining patron services, celebrating wins motivates your team and builds confidence in the new system.

Clear, consistent communication fosters a culture of collaboration and reinforces the momentum of change.

Final Thought: Don’t Just Replicate—Reimagine

It’s easy to treat an upgrade, even one as substantial as Tessitura’s v16, as a chance to replicate your existing setup in a new environment. But real value comes from using this moment to reimagine how you work—and align that with where you want to go as an organization.

By approaching your business processes thoughtfully across each phase of the migration, you’ll not only set yourself up for a smoother go-live—you’ll emerge stronger, more agile, and better equipped to serve your audiences.

Perhaps you’ve completed your Tessitura upgrade, but haven’t adjusted your workflows. Perhaps your Development team knows something must change, but isn’t sure what steps to take first.

Need assistance in your testing, or in identifying new business processes for v16? Give us a call—we’d love to work with you.  

Steph Venskoske

About Steph Venskoske Steph’s passion is making non-profit organizations better by finding data solutions to meet clients’ needs and supporting operational processes that work. They are invested in helping clients...