This pattern is part of “Patterns of Legacy Displacement”

Protected Pilot

Create a pilot program for new work and detach it from the normal corporate governance process

This page is a stub. We intend to fully expand it in later revisions of this material. However we are still in the middle of developing these patterns, so it's likely that patterns will be renamed, split, or merged as we continue to learn how best to frame and explain these ideas.

Similar to New Co, the key idea here is to tackle a new business opportunity or segment, and thus avoid initial engagement with the larger organization and it's associated “corporate antibodies”. So we begin legacy modernization by building a new solution instead of building on top of legacy, we then look to migrate existing business to the new solution later on. A pilot project can also be key in building trust and demonstrating that different ways of working can succeed. It does require an appropriate “thin slice” to be selected.