Conference room pilot (CRP) is a type of

software Software is a set of computer programs and associated documentation and data. This is in contrast to hardware, from which the system is built and which actually performs the work. At the lowest programming level, executable code consists ...

procurement and software acceptance testing. A CRP may be used during the selection and implementation of a

software application Software is a set of computer programs and associated documentation and data. This is in contrast to hardware, from which the system is built and which actually performs the work. At the lowest programming level, executable code consists ...

in an organisation or company. The purpose of the conference room pilot is to validate a software application against the business processes of

end-user In product development, an end user (sometimes end-user) is a person who ultimately uses or is intended to ultimately use a product. The end user stands in contrast to users who support or maintain the product, such as sysops, system administrat ...

s of the software, by allowing end-users to use the software to carry out typical or key business processes using the new software. A commercial advantage of a conference room pilot is that it may allow the customer to prove that the new software will do the job (meets business requirements and expectations) before committing to buying the software, thus avoiding buying an inappropriate application. The term is most commonly used in the context of ' out of the box' (OOTB) or '

commercial off-the-shelf Commercial off-the-shelf or commercially available off-the-shelf (COTS) products are packaged or canned (ready-made) hardware or software, which are adapted aftermarket to the needs of the purchasing organization, rather than the commissioning of ...

' software (COTS).

Compared to user acceptance testing

Although a conference room pilot shares some features of

user acceptance testing In engineering and its various subdisciplines, acceptance testing is a test conducted to determine if the requirements of a specification or contract are met. It may involve chemical tests, physical tests, or performance tests. In systems en ...

(UAT), it should not be considered a testing process – it validates that a design or solution is fit for purpose at a higher level than functional testing. Shared features of CRP and UAT include: *End-to-end business processes are used as a "business input" for both *Functionality demonstrations *Non-functional validation(e.g. performance testing) Differences between a conference room pilot and a formal UAT: *It is attempting to identify how well the application meets business needs, and identify gaps, whilst still in the design phase of the project *There is an expectation that changes will be required before acceptance of the solution *The software is ‘on trial’ and may be rejected completely in favour of another solution.

References

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General

*https://web.archive.org/web/20120306082951/http://www.ensync-corp.com/consulting/conference_room_pilot.cfm?section=consulting *https://web.archive.org/web/20100410184030/http://www-archive.ui-integrate.uillinois.edu/news_art_crp.asp *https://web.archive.org/web/20120306082951/http://www.bourkeconsulting.com/documents/POCCRPBCAWebsite020903.pdf *https://web.archive.org/web/20120101095056/http://www.smthacker.co.uk/conference_room_pilot.htm Software testing