5. Pilot implementation

With this approach the idea is to try out the new system in only one part of an organisation.

This is a popular approach when they want to evaluate the performance and qualities of the system before committing to it throughout the organisation.

Example 1

BT may want to try out a new high speed broadband technology. So they may set up a pilot / trial of the system in a single town and see what customers think of the new system. If everything is favourable, then the system is gradually rolled out across the country.

Example 2

The NHS want to upgrade part of their hospital IT system. No one is quite sure about the merits or performance of the new system, so a pilot / trial is set up that only involves one hospital. If the pilot does not come up to expectations, then the project stops, on the other hand if it is a success, the IT system is rolled out to every hospital.

A pilot implementation is a very good approach when there is some uncertainty about the system. The disadvantage is that it may take a long time to run the pilot which leads to higher costs and time taken up by staff to evaluate the system.

Also the pilot must be designed so that it is representative of the whole organisation. For instance, a company may have a small distribution warehouse handling a dozen or so items a day, and a massive distribution centre handling tens of thousands a day. Running a pilot in the tiny distribution centre may not reveal problems when the system is scaled up for the main centre.