Creating Pilot Plan Documents

Applies To: Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2003 R2, Windows Server 2003 with SP1, Windows Server 2003 with SP2

The pilot plan includes a number of documents that provide procedures for successfully rolling out the pilot in a business environment. The pilot plan should include:

• A training plan that describes what the pilot participants need to know before they begin the pilot and describes how you plan to train them.

• A support plan that describes how problems that arise for participants during the pilot will be resolved.

• A communication plan that explains how you will keep participants informed about what is happening in the project.

• An evaluation plan that describes how you plan to obtain feedback from participants.

  This can be used to assess design changes that might be required before the pilot is rolled out to the rest of the organization.

• A risk and contingency plan that describes potential risk factors and how you plan to assess and diffuse them.

• A backup and recovery plan that describes how to back up data and system configurations, how to test those backups, and how to roll back to previous configurations if problems arise that might affect business operations or participants’ access to data.

  Having a backup and recovery plan is particularly important because the pilot is a rollout in a business environment.

• A schedule that includes milestones at which you plan to evaluate and make necessary changes to the pilot.

The pilot plans you create help to ensure the smooth deployment and completion of your pilot project by clarifying the tasks and roles of the release management team and the pilot participants.