What are best practices to transition from product development to operational ownership?

I am assuming this is product development for internal operational use.  The key to this is to have the consuming organization as part of the product development team.  Too often the development team is disconnected from the consuming organization, and their 'ownership stake' is loosely connected to the actual product being developed.  I believe in '2 in a box' approaches to product development - the lead for development and the lead for the actual product 'consumption'.  Similar to the analogy below, I believe the baton passing needs to be ready from the time development begins.  

- Early Planning: Integrate the handover process into the overall project lifecycle from the beginning to ensure a smooth transition.
- Documentation & Knowledge Transfer: Provide clear, comprehensive documentation and conduct training sessions to ensure knowledge is effectively transferred.
- Define Roles & Criteria: Clarify individual responsibilities and establish measurable goals to guide the handover process.
- Risk Management: Identify potential risks associated with the transition and implement strategies to mitigate them.
- Training & Support: Offer targeted training and ensure ongoing support is available after the handover is complete.
- Joint Accountability: Promote shared ownership between business and technology teams to ensure alignment and accountability.
- Product Culture: Foster a mindset focused on customer needs and desired outcomes to drive product success.
- Continuous Improvement: Regularly collect feedback and refine handover processes to enhance future transitions.

I’d explain transitioning from product development to operational ownership like passing the baton in a relay race. You’ve built something great, now it’s about making sure it runs smoothly for users.
Hand It Over Right: Clearly say who’s in charge of keeping the product running (like an operations team) and share simple guides on how it works.
Build Smart Early: Add tools to spot problems and make the product tough enough to handle hiccups.
Test Small First: Try it with a few users to catch glitches before going big.
Keep Talking: Devs and ops should chat often to fix issues fast and keep users happy.

I hope my response is not trivial.  I'm assuming there's a separation between the product developers and those responsible for ops & support.  And that Production Support isn't already working 70+ hours a week. Warrantee period should be negotiated with Production Support and Business, not tossed over the wall.  Support should be privy to product architecture, design and requirements.  They should have time to staff & train, and understand unmitigated risks, defects, workarounds, etc.  Warrantee period should be scoped, and not just guessed (e.g. - 3 months, 6 months, etc.)  Allowing PMO to dictate early transitions to meet scheduling targets is a recipe for business interruptions.  Communications with Production Support should be two-ways, and begin early.