Ideal pilot profile
A representative Microsoft BI estate with SQL Server, SQL Agent, SSISDB, SSRS, and SSAS Tabular where access can be coordinated.
Pilot assessment
A bounded first assessment, not a separate product.
A pilot is the first practical version of an assessment walkthrough: confirm the estate slice, run the evidence workflow where access allows, and test whether the outputs are useful enough for modernization planning.
What it validates
Connector coverage, warning visibility, scoring usefulness, recommendation clarity, reporting outputs, and security handoff.
What the client gets
Inventory, dependency evidence, coverage gaps, complexity/risk signals, recommendations, CSV exports, and printable summary.
What remains honest
Partial access, unsupported patterns, and low-confidence dependencies are surfaced as caveats rather than hidden.
Current pilot posture
Core collection, ingestion, scoring, reporting, and end-to-end validation flows are in place; representative live estate validation is next.
Go/no-go
Proceed when the assessment produces useful evidence, explainable gaps, and enough output to plan next modernization steps.
Pilot fit
A first pilot should answer whether the evidence is useful enough to plan with.
The pilot is a bounded validation of collection, output shape, caveats, and the decisions the assessment needs to support.
- Question
Is this estate slice suitable for a first pilot?
- Evidence
The systems, collector host, access model, representative assets, expected outputs, and validation criteria can be defined.
- Caveat
Partial access or unsupported patterns may limit some findings without making the entire pilot unusable.
- Decision
Proceed when the pilot can produce useful evidence, explainable gaps, and a practical modernization readout.
- Next action
Confirm scope, security, access, and success criteria.
How it differs from a walkthrough
The walkthrough is the conversation. The pilot is the scoped run.
The assessment walkthrough reviews fit, output shape, access model, and security posture. A pilot starts only when there is a bounded estate, agreed validation criteria, and a practical collection path.
Service relationship
It sits inside assessment services.
Pilot scope, evidence review, roadmap interpretation, and executive or partner readout support should be handled as explicit services around the TangleMap evidence.
Review servicesNext step
Decide whether a pilot is the right next step
Start with an assessment discussion to confirm the estate slice, access model, collector host, expected outputs, and validation criteria before agreeing a bounded pilot.