Lesson 4 of 5
Pilot, parallel run and cutover
16 min
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Certification proves the partner's and Contoso's systems agree on test data. Production adds real volume, real people and real exceptions. A pilot or parallel run is the controlled way to meet them before the whole relationship depends on EDI.
Three ways to start
| Approach | How it works | Risk it controls | Risk it adds |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pilot | A subset goes live first, such as two depots or one product family; the rest stays on the old channel | Limits the blast radius of an unknown defect | Two channels to run and reconcile for a few weeks |
| Parallel run | The partner sends EDI and the old channel for the same orders; only one is processed, the other compared | Proves EDI produces the same orders as the trusted channel | Duplicates if both are processed; double work for both sides |
| Big bang | All volume switches at once on the cutover date | No dual running | Every defect hits all orders at once |
For Northern Plains, Contoso chooses a pilot: depots D07 and D02 order by EDI for two weeks, the other nine keep e-mailing orders to Maria's team. A parallel run would have meant Northern Plains sending every order twice, which their coordinator declined, and Contoso would have had to block one channel's orders to avoid duplicates.
Volume limits and guardrails
A pilot needs explicit limits, written in the cutover plan: which depots or products, how many orders per day, and what happens if a limit is exceeded. Add guardrails in the system too. Contoso's are simple: EDI orders from Northern Plains during the pilot use the normal order type but receive a delivery block that Maria's team removes after a quick review, so a mapping defect can't ship the wrong alternators before someone looks. The block is removed from the process at full go-live.
What to monitor every day
- Counts by document: 850s received, orders created, 855s sent; deliveries with goods issue and 856s sent; billing documents and 810s sent.
- Acknowledgments: every outbound document has an accepted 997 within the agreed 4 hours; in TPM, nothing sits in Waiting for Acknowledgment or Acknowledgment Overdue.
- Errors: IDocs in status 51, failed or unassigned interchanges in the B2B monitor, negative MDNs.
- Business results: Maria's review findings, and the partner's feedback on 856 and 810 matching.
Deciding to cut over
Agree the cutover criteria before the pilot starts, so the decision isn't made under pressure. Contoso's criteria for Northern Plains: ten consecutive clean business days; no open severity 1 or 2 defects; every document type exercised in production at least five times, including one partial shipment and one credit memo; daily reconciliation at 100 percent; and the partner's written agreement. Grace's decision group doesn't need to meet for one partner; Maria and Priya decide, and Theo confirms the technical readiness.
What would you do?
After eight clean pilot days, Northern Plains asks to switch all 11 depots tomorrow because a large order is coming. No credit memo has been tested in production yet. What should Maria and Priya decide?
- Choose pilot, parallel run or big bang deliberately; a pilot limits blast radius, a parallel run risks duplicates.
- Write pilot limits and system guardrails, such as a delivery block for review, into the cutover plan.
- Reconcile counts, acknowledgments, errors and business results every day; only then is a day clean.
- Agree cutover criteria before the pilot and keep them under pressure.
Check your understanding · not graded
Lesson check
1. What is the main risk of a parallel run in which the partner sends both EDI and e-mail orders?
2. Which guardrail did Contoso use during the Northern Plains pilot?
3. When should cutover criteria be agreed?
4. Which pilot day counts as clean at Contoso?