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Breaking through ‘Pilot Purgatory’ in Innovating New Solutions

Pilot purgatory refers to innovative projects that stall in the planning phase without scaling. Jason Claybrook and guests discuss questions driving technology forward and why some projects fail to become commercially viable, citing IoT devices as an example.

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By Jason Claybrook · · Information TechnologyInfrastructureItIt Infrastructure
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Breaking through ‘Pilot Purgatory’ in Innovating New Solutions

Key takeaways

01

Pilot purgatory refers to projects that remain in initial stages without scaling.

02

Innovative solutions should be feasible, repeatable, and scalable to be successful.

03

Identifying personal challenges can lead to growth and problem-solving for businesses.

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On There’s More to IT, host Jason Claybrook and guests will explore some foundational questions about the technology that’s driving us all forward.

Why do we build the stuff we build? What’s behind the scenes? Where are we falling short or putting revenue first?

The days of post-trade show drinks and conversation are far from over. In fact, they live right here on There’s More to IT.

On There’s More to IT, hosts Jason Claybrook, Simon Lok and Reid Estreicher explore the foundational questions about the technology that’s driving us all forward.

Why do we build the stuff we build? What’s behind the scenes? Where are we falling short or putting revenue first?

On this episode, the trio dove into the relationship between personal challenges and growth and the solutions that often present themselves to challenges companies of all sizes face.

For example, Estriecher brought up the concept of “pilot purgatory,” which refers to efforts to solve a problem for the market that result in a fantastic concept, but ultimately never exit that initial planning stage.

For example, consider IoT devices. There’s no opposition to the idea that it’s poised to change connectivity forever, but what’s the best way to go about developing solutions that are scalable, repeatable and feasible?

“You can always convince a few people to take a look,” Lok said. “There will always be a few people who can see the benefit over the things that are going wrong. … That’s how you end up in what [Estriecher] is describing.

“But if I want to go and actually turn this into a commercially viable product, those people are not enough.”

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Jason Claybrook
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