| Martin was so looking forward to the POC. He had involved all the stakeholders equally. He had insured that the traders taking part in the POC had a backup machine in case something unexpected happened . This way, the traders could continue to operate . The time of the month during which the POC was scheduled was also important. During this time, many unique technology events were occurring, such as increased network traffic due to options expiring and different applications being used. Jason was glad he had deployed the POC. He could now take these next 10 days and clean up some outstanding issues that had been building in the digital certificate project. This would mean that he would spend less time using the biometric system, but the other project manager would be using it anyway. |
The Methodology When the POC group has been chartered, the goals and success criteria defined, and the vendors selected, it is time for the POC to be deployed. To maximize the value of the POC, the project team should treat the POC like it will be deployed enterprise-wide. This will give the team members a chance to explore issues like the following: -
Who does one call when something happens ? ” Using the biometric system like it would be used after deployment can expose these types of situations. Since we are in a POC phase, there is dedicated support to deal with the problems. At the same time, this provides valuable information to consider when planning the next phases of the project. -
What happens on the third day of every other month when the users stand on one foot and touch their noses ? ” In every organization, there are "special" situations that happen only so often. These special situations are normally the exception to every rule. Thus, the biometric system may need to be modified to meet this need. It is better to find out about these situations with only a handful of deployed users than to bring an entire company to a standstill because of an oversight. -
Will this be used on a daily basis ? ” By making desktop visits and analyzing the audit logs, team members can observe whether the users are prepared to accept the biometric system. It is better to find this out now, with little invested in the technology, than have millions sunk into a solution. -
Does this interfere with any mission-critical systems or applications ? ” Again, by setting the goals and success criteria early on, the critical applications that need support should have been included as part of the POC. Working seamlessly with critical applications should have been one of the success criteria for the project moving forward. -
Start talking to the desktop group about automated installations ” Is there any funky stuff on the desktops to know about? Though the POC is deployed only to a handful of users, it is important to think of it as an enterprise solution. Therefore, now is the time to start thinking about corporate deployment. There is no use in having a workable solution if it cannot be deployed, or if existing software will interfere with the biometric system's installation. -
Talk to the server engineers about issues in deploying the authentication backend ” If the biometric system needs to use a server for authentication or storage, it is important now to find out if the solution can be deployed on servers already running within the enterprise. The POC may have been installed by hand, with the help of a knowledgeable server engineer. If the project moves forward, future installs may need to be automated and "obvious" system adjustments made by the POC server engineer may need to be documented. -
Find out about architecture, the network, filesystems, and connectivity ” During the POC phase, many different groups that may not normally interact are brought together as stakeholders. Now is the time to take advantage of this and brainstorm and discuss things such as architecture, network traffic, filesystems, and general connectivity issues. -
Talk to the risk management and IT security groups about their issues and concerns ” Such discussions can help the project make adjustments for future stages, or allow the risk management and IT security groups to modify or create new risk and security policies that will support the project going forward. Following the above suggestions will ensure a high probability of the project's success from the project management perspective. This gives the technology a chance to prove itself without having interference from project management. |
