Key Points
- When selecting and deploying a new tool or vendor, the proof of concept, pilot, and implementation/migration are distinct options.
- A PoC is to determine suitability of tool(s) and/or vendor(s), whereas the pilot discovers issues in a real partial implementation.
- Site visitors would not see a proof of concept whereas they would a pilot.
Related resource
Estimating Migration Effort |
An approach to estimating migration effort to avoid surprises
Oftentimes, a tool and/or vendor selection is part of a large-scale site digital migration or redesign. When a new CMS is involved, you will want to make sure to put the CMS through a proof of concept, which should be part of your CMS selection process. The same goes for a new implementation partner. A migration or redesign should include these three steps if you are going to use a new CMS. This table highlights the differences between a proof of concept, pilot, and full migration:
| 1) Proof of Concept | 2) Pilot | 3) Full implementation / Migration | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Purpose | Determine suitability of tool(s) and/or vendor(s) | Discover and fix issues that arise during fairly real if partial implementation | Move off of old platform and onto new |
| Choose another option at end of stage | Possibly | No | No |
| Only prod a bit at the tool or just watch vendor demos | No | No | No |
| “Real” content contributors use | Maybe | Yes | Yes |
| Site visitors use | No | Yes | Yes |
| Concentrate on migrating in only one full section of site (content, templates, functionality, etc) | No | Yes | No (implement all needed for launch) |
| Implement only key use cases | Yes (concentrating on functionality) | Yes (for end-to-end capabilities | No (implement all needed for launch) |
| Implement what's easy | No | No | Yes (as part of full implementation) |
| Concentrate on functionality that could break | Yes | Yes | No |
| Concentrate on the “bulk” that needs to move in | No | No | Yes |
| Concentrate on server load | No (unless a key issue that could drop a tool) | Yes | Yes |
| After stage, possibly quickly scrap development to start from scratch | Yes | Yes | No |
| Estimate end user effort (to gauge total migration effort) | No | Yes | No |
Estimating Migration Effort
An approach to estimating migration effort to avoid surprises