Starting something new in your BI environment can feel risky, especially when your team is already stretched thin and your production apps are business-critical. That is exactly why a pilot project is such a smart way to get started with DevOps for BI. Instead of overhauling everything at once, you test the approach on a small scale, learn what works, and build confidence before rolling it out further. This article walks you through what a BI DevOps pilot project actually looks like, how long it takes, and how to set it up for success.
What is a BI DevOps pilot project?
A BI DevOps pilot project is a time-boxed, controlled experiment where your team applies DevOps principles to a small but representative part of your Business Intelligence environment. Think version control, structured deployment workflows, and approval processes, but scoped to just one or two apps or a single team rather than your entire BI landscape.
The goal is not to solve every problem at once. The goal is to prove that a more structured approach to BI development and deployment actually works in your specific context. A pilot gives you a safe space to learn, adjust, and demonstrate value before committing to a full implementation. It is a low-risk way to answer the question: does DevOps for BI deliver real results for us?
Why should BI teams start with a pilot project?
BI teams often face a common set of frustrations: deployments that break things in production, developers overwriting each other’s work, no clear audit trail, and hours lost to manual publishing steps. These problems tend to grow as the team and the number of apps grow. A pilot project helps you address them without disrupting everything at once.
Starting small also makes it easier to get buy-in from stakeholders. When you can point to a concrete example of a deployment that went smoothly, a change that was tracked and approved, or time saved during a release, the conversation about broader adoption becomes much easier. A pilot builds the internal evidence you need to move forward with confidence.
There is also a practical benefit: your team learns the tooling and the process while the stakes are low. That learning carries directly into the full rollout.
How long does a BI DevOps pilot project typically take?
Most BI DevOps pilot projects run for somewhere between two and six weeks. The exact duration depends on the complexity of your environment, the number of people involved, and how much time the team can dedicate alongside their regular work.
A realistic breakdown looks something like this:
- Week 1: Setup and onboarding. Connect your BI environment, configure version control, and define the scope of the pilot.
- Weeks 2 and 3: Active use. Developers work through the version control and deployment workflow on the selected apps. Testers use change tracking to focus their testing. A release is prepared and deployed.
- Weeks 4 to 6 (optional): Iteration and measurement. The team refines the workflow, resolves friction points, and gathers data on time saved and errors avoided.
For teams with a simpler setup or strong technical experience, a two-week pilot is often enough to draw meaningful conclusions. For larger or more regulated environments, four to six weeks gives you more room to test governance features like enforced approvals and dependency tracking.
What does a BI DevOps pilot project include step by step?
A well-structured pilot follows a clear sequence. Here is what that typically looks like in practice:
- Define the scope: Choose one or two BI apps that are actively being developed. Pick something realistic but not your most complex or sensitive production app.
- Set up version control: Connect the selected apps to version control so every change is tracked. Developers check out apps, make changes, and check them back in. No more overwriting each other’s work.
- Configure the deployment workflow: Define the environments, for example development, test, and production, and set up the promotion steps between them. Decide which tasks must be completed before an app can move forward.
- Run a development cycle: Developers work on the app using the new workflow. Use change tracking so testers know exactly what changed and can focus their testing accordingly.
- Execute a deployment: Promote the app through the environments to production using the automated workflow. No manual copying of files, no direct access to the production server required.
- Review and document: After the deployment, review what went well and what did not. Document the time saved, the issues avoided, and any adjustments needed before scaling up.
Who should be involved in a BI DevOps pilot?
The right mix of people can make or break a pilot. You do not need the entire organization, but you do need representation from the key roles that touch the BI development and deployment process.
- BI developers: They are the primary users of version control and the development workflow. Their feedback on usability is important.
- Testers: They benefit directly from change tracking, which lets them focus on what actually changed rather than testing everything from scratch.
- A BI manager or team lead: Someone who can observe the process, validate the governance aspects, and report results to stakeholders.
- A representative from IT or operations: Especially relevant if the deployment touches server configurations, data connections, or security settings.
In regulated industries, it can also be worth including someone from compliance or risk management, even in the pilot phase. Seeing how approval workflows and audit trails work in practice tends to generate immediate interest from that audience.
How do you measure the success of a BI DevOps pilot?
Success in a pilot is not just a feeling. You want concrete indicators that the approach is working. Here are the most useful things to track:
- Deployment time: How long did it take to move an app from development to production, compared to your previous process?
- Deployment errors: Did anything break in production during the pilot? How does that compare to your baseline?
- Time spent on testing: Did testers spend less time because they could focus on tracked changes rather than testing everything?
- Developer confidence: Did developers feel more in control of the process? Were there fewer instances of lost work or conflicting changes?
- Audit trail completeness: Can you look back and see exactly who changed what, when, and whether it was approved before going to production?
Even in a short pilot, these indicators give you a clear picture of whether the approach delivers value. Teams that measure carefully during the pilot are also better positioned to make the case for a full rollout.
How PlatformManager supports your BI DevOps pilot
We built PlatformManager specifically to make the kind of structured, repeatable BI development and deployment process described above practical for real teams. Whether you are working with Qlik Sense, Qlik Cloud, Power BI, or SAP BusinessObjects, a pilot with PlatformManager gives your team immediate access to the tools that make DevOps for BI work in practice.
Here is what you get from day one of a pilot:
- Integrated version control that tracks every change to your apps, so developers stop overwriting each other’s work
- Structured deployment workflows with enforced approvals before anything reaches production
- Change tracking that lets testers focus only on what actually changed, cutting testing time significantly
- Dependency transparency so you know which QVDs, extensions, and reload tasks are in play before you deploy
- Multi-environment support including hybrid setups that combine on-premises and Qlik Cloud environments
- Release management that keeps your production environment consistent, even across multiple related apps
The fastest way to experience this is through our free three-day trial, which gives you full access to a cloud server with a demo set of apps and data. No setup complexity, no commitment. You can also explore our solutions to see how PlatformManager fits your specific BI environment, or get in touch with us to talk through what a pilot would look like for your team.