Should a pilot be paid?

That is a commercial choice. Paid pilots tend to get more attention on both sides; unpaid ones are easier to start. The paper records which it is and whether the fee counts toward anything later.

Does a pilot commit either side to a full contract?

Usually not, and agreements of this kind say so plainly. Where there is an intention to proceed if criteria are met, that is written as its own term rather than left implied.

Why write success criteria down?

Because a pilot without them ends in an argument about whether it worked. Criteria agreed at the start turn the end of the pilot into a decision rather than a negotiation.

Software and platforms

Pilot agreement

The paper for a short, bounded evaluation before anybody commits to a full agreement. It names the scope and the dates, says who does what during the pilot, and — the part that makes it worth writing — sets out how success will be judged and what happens at the end in either direction. Because a pilot usually involves real data in a system nobody has fully vetted yet, it also carries the data and confidentiality terms a full agreement would.

In the catalogue: Software and platforms
Where it can live: Any of the 184 governing laws

Who uses one

Vendors running a paid or unpaid trial with a prospective customer.
Companies evaluating a tool before signing a longer commitment.
Teams testing an integration where both sides have work to do.

What you are deciding

What is being piloted, and in what part of the business
The dates, and whether the pilot can be extended
What each side has to provide for it to work
How success will be judged, in terms both sides accept
Whether anything is paid, and what happens to that fee if it converts
What happens to data and configuration at the end
Whether either side is committed to anything afterwards
What confidentiality applies to the results

Blanks you leave stay blank and wait in the room. Nothing is filled in from a guess.

The sections a draft usually has

1The parties and purpose
2Scope of the pilot
3Dates and extension
4Responsibilities of each side
5Success criteria
6Fees
7Data handling
8Confidentiality
9What happens at the end

A general outline, not a required one. What turns up in a draft follows what you described. A contract is written in the order a contract is read.

What people call it

The names this kind of paper goes by. They are here because people search for them. They also filter the catalogue. They are not a wordlist the door matches. At the composer you describe the deal in your own words instead.

pilot agreement
proof of concept agreement
poc agreement
trial agreement
evaluation agreement
paid pilot contract

Questions people ask

Should a pilot be paid?: That is a commercial choice. Paid pilots tend to get more attention on both sides; unpaid ones are easier to start. The paper records which it is and whether the fee counts toward anything later.
Does a pilot commit either side to a full contract?: Usually not, and agreements of this kind say so plainly. Where there is an intention to proceed if criteria are met, that is written as its own term rather than left implied.
Why write success criteria down?: Because a pilot without them ends in an argument about whether it worked. Criteria agreed at the start turn the end of the pilot into a decision rather than a negotiation.

General answers about the document. Not advice about your situation. Not written about any one country.

Where it lives

A contract names the legal system it is governed by. That is a separate decision from which paper it is. You pick it at the door, from any of the 184 units in Governing law, including England and Wales, Delaware, California and New York.

You do not start from this page. Describe the deal in one sentence at the door. Read the draft back in plain language, in the order a contract is read.

Start it at the door →

Related kinds

All 87 kinds