Launch day is something every site goes through, perhaps more than once in its lifecycle. The day itself is stressful for everyone involved as launch day problems can result in visible, public failure.

Recent launch issues with high-profile websites like healthcare.gov, the London 2012 Olympics, and just this May, the 2014 Commonwealth Games exhibit the importance of preparing for launch. From the developers and themers who create the site to the editors who create the content, from CIOs/CTOs in charge to project investors, the onus is on everyone to have a successful launch.

This session focuses on how to prepare a site for release into the wild in a long-term, strategic manner throughout development and testing rather than as a last minute scramble before DNS cutover.

While working in Support at Acquia, we've had first hand experience overseeing launches of all shapes, sizes, and -- most importantly -- preparation. As a result, we've become well accustomed to what makes a launch successful… and what to avoid.

During our session, we will discuss:

• Some of the low hanging fruit that are easily achievable as site savers
• How load testing is an essential part of a successful launch
• Common mistakes made that can have major launch impacts
• How agile development methodologies can assist with ensuring rapid turn-around post launch

This session is appropriate for:

• Companies on the brink of launch
• Key decision-makers looking to ensure their team is aware of common pitfalls
• Self-hosted site maintainers investigating the benefits of hosting in a managed environment