Give the pilot one clear purpose
A pilot should answer a defined question about fit. For example: can this team receive requests, plan preventive work and maintain useful equipment history without duplicate entry? Avoid opening every module at once simply because the trial includes it. A smaller scope makes gaps and training needs easier to identify.
Choose representative work and include a difficult case. A facilities pilot might include a recurring inspection, an urgent request and a contractor task. A manufacturing pilot might include planned machine service, a parts issue and a fault reported during a shift. These are suggested scenarios, not mandatory templates.
Assign people and prepare the sample
Name an operational owner who can make scope decisions, a technician representative who will perform the tasks and a person who can evaluate reporting and data. Include IT or procurement where the pilot involves access, integration or purchasing questions.
Prepare a modest, authorized dataset rather than importing the entire organization immediately. Check asset names, users, permissions and a few recurring tasks. Confirm what support the vendor will provide and when the team can obtain it. Set aside actual working time; software access without participation does not produce an evaluation.
Write acceptance criteria before testing
An acceptance criterion should describe an observable result. “Easy to use” is difficult to judge consistently. “A trained technician can complete the sample job and the planner can find its history” gives the team something concrete to observe.
| Area | Example acceptance check |
|---|---|
| Request intake | A submitted problem reaches the right queue with its location and asset. |
| Planning | The planner can assign and reschedule work with a clear reason. |
| Execution | The technician can record the required checks, time, parts and notes. |
| History | A manager can trace the completed work to the correct equipment. |
| Data | An authorized user can export the records needed for review. |
| Recovery | A failed submission or lost connection has an understandable recovery path. |
Record friction and distinguish its cause
After users try the workflow, collect examples rather than general impressions. Was a step unclear because training was missing, because configuration was wrong or because the product could not perform it? Those explanations lead to different decisions.
Keep a short issue log with severity, affected role, reproduction steps, proposed remedy and owner. Retest important fixes. Do not count a promised customization as completed functionality, and do not require technicians to memorize workarounds without assessing their long-term cost. IBM’s implementation guidance places user preparation and evaluation alongside technical setup; the pilot should address both.
Close with an explicit decision
Choose proceed, adjust and retest, or reject, and explain the evidence. Record unresolved licence costs, migration work, integrations, training and operational responsibilities. If you assess time or data quality, compare observations using the same scope and avoid turning a small pilot into an unsupported savings forecast.
Preserve a usable export of the pilot records and agree on what happens to the trial environment. A successful pilot is not only a positive impression: it is a clear account of what worked, what remains and who will own the rollout.