Implementation Pilots

Description

• 
  Prototypes of all appropriate aspects of the business solution (process, information technology, human resources)  that are designed, installed and tested on a subset of the overall Business Organisation.

Business  Value

• Pilot implementations produce valuable lessons that can be applied to the full-scale implementation in later steps, and this helps to avoid costly corrections after the Organisation-wide roll-out
• For large-scale changes, pilot implementations are essential in identifying initial problems without causing major impacts to the current client environment.  Without pilot implementations, the risk of unforeseen problems occurring during full installation rises dramatically
• Any resistance to proposed changes or deficiencies in required skills can be identified with this deliverable and incorporated into future deliverables.

Approach

Implementation pilots allow the implementation team to experiment with different alternatives to arrive at the optimum solution for the Business Organisation.  The most important aspect of pilot implementations lies not with their design or even with their actual execution, but with the analysis of the results of the pilot implementation, so that the lessons learned can be applied to the eventual full implementation of the new business solution

1. Choose the locations for the Implementation Pilots.
1. While the ideal locations for implementations pilot are unique to each client engagement, they can be run at the unit, branch, or division level.
2. Design each Implementation Pilot.
1. Define objectives and criteria for success of the pilot.
2. Develop a plan outlining pilot activities.
1. The plan should focus on:
1. Issues/items to be tested
2. Activities to be completed to test issues/items identified
3. Format for capturing results of pilot.
3. Undertake the Implementation Pilot.
4. Summarise the results of the pilot implementations to determine their ramifications for full implementation.
1. The results of the pilot should be summarised and include the following items:
1. Issues/Items that were tested
2. Results of pilots concerning these issues/items
3. Impacts of results on overall business solution
4. Activities to be completed to incorporate results/impacts
5. Other findings/observations

Guidelines

Tactics/Helpful Hints

• Where possible, locate pilots in a live “production environment”.  (In some cases, however, “conference room pilots” are required to simulate new solutions in a confined/controlled environment using live data and trained participants.)