Why a proof of concept?

Do we need to make a proof of concept before we start with something new?

If the concept is simple, like playing fotboll, you could just buy a fotboll and start to play. No worries as the cost is very low. Want to try a new, beer? By a bottle or two before you order a crate.

If you instead daughter want to have your own horse to ride, a proof of concept would be very wise, as the consequences if you fail us much bigger.

The next question is what you want to have proof of, and this need some serious thoughts. If we just get proof of our child can ride, we are not verifying the difficult things. Rinding is easy compared to maintain a horse 365/7/24. Therefore it’s the maintenance over time we need to have proof of before we buy her a pony.

If you have a new business model, it’s wise to try out in a small scale, so the proof of concept also works in the business world.

With IT, you can use a PoC to evaluate if a software package is feasible or not. The challenge here with COTS, like with a horse, is to measure the right things.

My recommendation is to verify the things that are hard to change afterwards and drives cost, as integrations, information model and non-functional requirements as performance, security etc.

But a proof of concept is not enough, you also need to look at the total cost of ownership for your IT system or horse to see if you can afford it.