How to run a successful IT pilot program

What is an IT pilot program?

An enterprise IT pilot program -- also referred to as a pilot test or pilot study -- serves to test a vendor's application before the CIO, vice president of IT or other key stakeholders agree to purchase or license it. The pilot program enables the appropriate leaders to gather input from a subset of employees.

An IT pilot project depends on a project sponsor who will own, fund and take responsibility for the overall success of the program. Depending on the size and complexity of the company, this person is typically a vice president of IT, though it could also be the CIO.

9 essential steps of a tech pilot program

As with any test, a pilot program requires specific steps to uncover issues and make the best possible assessment about whether and how the software delivers on business needs. Here are nine essentials to help ensure success.

1. Determine whether software warrants a pilot test

The pilot project is small scale in that only a limited number of business users will be included in the test, and the focus should be on the most important functionality rather than every feature. Still, a pilot can be a significant undertaking. For this reason, the project sponsor should only consider a pilot as well as its attendant level of effort and disruption for systems that are core to the company.

2. Secure resources and approvals

The IT pilot program sponsor must kickstart the project by allocating budget and resources to the project. Depending on the scope and size of the program, they might also need to present the program to other C-suite colleagues and the CEO to get their buy-in. This is especially important for applications that will affect many aspects of the business, such as an ERP system, and those that require a significant budget. In most cases, the project sponsor will also need to appoint other IT team members to manage the project, such as a project manager, a director of IT and an IT architect.

3. Define the pilot program's parameters and goals

The project sponsor must set clear goals, with predefined success metrics for the pilot program before it begins. This clarifies for everyone assigned to the pilot program why they are testing the application, what the use of their feedback is and what application evaluation methods will be used.

4. Outline the project timeline

The project manager should outline the project timeline at the beginning of the program. The timeline is developed with input from many people, such as the project sponsor, the business unit leaders, the vendor and the team members assigned to the project. The project timeline is important for many reasons, such as providing a go/no-go decision to the vendor in a reasonable amount of time, explaining the time commitment to pilot program team participants, knowing when the pilot program has come to an end and planning for the full implementation if the pilot is successful.

5. Establish the team

As with any project, choosing the right team members for a pilot is key. Members of the C-suite, such as representatives from finance and legal as well as business unit leaders whose departments will be affected by the program, might need to be part of the pilot test. The C-suite can help by providing recommendations for participants.

The small-scale test of potential enterprise software will also include key IT staff, employees and others. The project leaders should include IT technical analysts as part of the project team. They'll test the software's functionality and can also integrate the application with other enterprise systems to test interoperability.

The project leader will also need to add to the project team the appropriate business unit employees. These employees can validate that the application meets their business unit needs. The subset of employees should ideally include users from each department affected by the new software purchase since their use cases might be quite different. For example, an ERP system might be used by purchasing, accounting and warehouse staff, but each of these departments has their own needs and requirements.

Project leaders might also include external users who would eventually use the application. These could include third-party vendors and customers depending on the application.

As part of this selection process, the project manager should be clear about and negotiate time commitments required of team members. Participants might not be able to dedicate all their time to the program but discussing and reaching an understanding about expectations is critical.

6. Provide training

Before program team participants can begin using the application, they need training. Project managers should set up that training in the appropriate ways. Application training might come from the vendor or through self-service methods, such as documentation and videos.

Pilot participants will need training for applications and any associated tools, such as an IT ticketing system for providing feedback. An IT technical support team member is likely to provide training for those not already familiar with the tools.

7. Gather feedback

Collecting observations and evaluations from pilot program participants is one of the most important steps of the pilot project. Project leaders should gather participant feedback throughout the pilot using an existing IT ticketing system or at specific stages through pre-defined means and keep the VP of IT or other sponsor up to date on progress and any problems that arise. The sponsor or project manager can then work with the vendor to address the issues or suspend the pilot program altogether if significant limitations are discovered.

The project sponsor should also provide status updates to the C-suite if that expectation is established.

8. Assess the results

At the conclusion of the IT pilot program, the project sponsor must be able to determine if the company should purchase the application or look at other vendors. Before deciding, they should meet with program participants to discuss their impressions. They can then consider all the feedback, such as how the application ranks against their requirements, whether the program met its goals and what the quality of vendor support is.

The project manager should also finalize and store project documentation and data for future reference.

9. Recommend next steps

Ultimately, the project sponsor must develop a recommendation for the company's C-suite. The recommendation should be supported by the pilot program feedback, validation against the metrics established at the program's outset, and information they've received from program team participants and the vendor.

Eric St-Jean is an independent consultant with a particular focus on HR technology, project management, and Microsoft Excel training and automation. He writes about numerous business and technology areas.