MercuryPay, a mid-market payroll software company, attempted to launch a new automated tax filing workflow for 1,200 SMB customers. The launch failed after inaccurate state tax calculations affected 4.8% of payroll runs in the first week, forcing the company to pause the rollout and manually correct filings. You are the program manager assigned to lead the recovery plan, relaunch the product safely, and show what the organization learned from the failure.
The core team includes 10 people: 4 engineers, 2 QA analysts, 1 product manager, 1 compliance lead, 1 customer support manager, and you. The CEO has asked for a relaunch plan within 10 business days because the failed launch delayed a projected $1.4M in annual expansion revenue and increased churn risk among high-value customers.
Engineering wants time to address root causes and reduce technical debt. Sales wants the feature relaunched before the next quarter starts to support renewals. Compliance will not approve another launch without stronger controls and auditability. Customer Support is managing 73 open customer escalations and wants a narrower rollout to reduce ticket volume.