Is This Pilot Test Over?

Abstract

Beginning in 1994, members of the Financial Services Technology Consortium collaborated to design eCheck, an Internet-based payment mechanism. In the fall of 1997 a pilot project was launched involving the United States Treasury and U.S. Department of Defense. This case describes the issues involved in soliciting participants and resolving intellectual property, system architecture, regulatory, strategic and other issues. In July 2001 a server failed, prompting the eCheck team to question whether it was time to officially declare an end to the pilot. This case was prepared for use in an MBA-level class on IT Management or Project Management. The case provides a vehicle for discussing the following topics: Regulatory, business, technical, and project management challenges in managing complex IT initiatives. The project life-cycle. Guidelines for effectively learning from IT projects. Stakeholder analysis for consortium-led IT initiatives. Unique issues that arise in multi-organization systems development initiatives.