Guideline: Selecting Pilot Projects
This guideline describes how to select the right pilot projects for implementing capability improvements.
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Main Description

The goal of a pilot project is not only to deliver a product, but also to apply new process, technology, or tools.

Requirements

Important requirements for selecting the right pilot project include:

Manageable Technical Risk. A pilot project should not involve too much technical risk, although risk is difficult to avoid when you are introducing a combination of new process, tools, and technology.

High Priority. The project should have a high enough priority to ensure necessary management commitment and sufficient resources. A mission-critical project would certainly meet this criterion but also carry a high cost of failure (financial risk).

Committed Resources. Many pilot projects fail when their resources are reassigned to other projects or their budgets are cut. Managers should commit sufficient resources for the duration of the project.

Realistic Schedule. The project schedule must not be so constrained that the team must forego the adoption of process and tools in order to meet it. Usually, the project manager is given some extra time to complete the project (ten to twenty-five percent of the original schedule).

Considerations

When the pilot project has been started before the introduction of new process or tools, care must be taken to ensure the improvements can be introduced at the right time. If the project is in Inception or early elaboration, there is usually enough time to introduce process and tools without jeopardizing the delivery date.  Waiting to introduce a new process or tools at a later stage will destabilize the project, as the project team's focus will shift to accommodating the changes.  This may lead to delayed delivery of the project, and in some cases could even lead to project termination if the team becomes swamped in complexity.

The most straightforward approach is to introduce improvements upon project startup.

To get the most out of a pilot project, it is important that the pilot uses the real development environment and that there is a real project pressure.