Biometric Vulnerabilities

Once all the stakeholders have been identified and invited into the project, and the goals and success criteria for the project have been defined, the POC charter should be created. The charter will define what percentage or part of the overall project goal will be used in the POC, and what other short-term POC goals should be defined. The scope of the POC is defined and agreed to. When setting goals and deciding on scope, the following can help in achieving POC success:

If the charter of the POC group is clear, the number of vendors to consider should be greatly reduced. In a corporate environment, every biometric system vendor wants that next sale. To that end, the vendors will lobby for a chance to be a part of the POC. The vendor selection needs to be based on:

When deciding how long to run a POC, there is a general feeling that longer is better. The timeframe needs to be long enough to validate the technology, but not so long as to have the POC stagnate. Generally, 30–45 days is long enough to know if the technology being proposed will meet the success criteria of the project. By keeping it short, the following benefits can be seen:

When the POC group has been chartered, the goals and success criteria defined, and the vendors selected, it is time for the POC to be deployed. To maximize the value of the POC, the project team should treat the POC like it will be deployed enterprise-wide. This will give the team members a chance to explore issues like the following:

Based on the documentation from the POC wrap-up, each vendor's product can be evaluated in light of the goals and success criteria. However, the vendor that met the most success criteria is not always the one selected. Often during the POC, one success criterion stands out as more important than the others. This could become a key in selecting the final product. Also, other intangibles like support and teamwork need to be considered in the decision. Once the decisions are made for each vendor, the next step can be taken.

Regardless of the outcome of the POC phase, the results need to be made public. By doing this, the project is transparent in its operations and is seen as being positive to the overall morale of the company. With the announcement, the groundwork can be laid for either moving on to the next phase with the current technology or preparing for another POC.

The POC is an important part of getting a new technology deployed. The POC can be seen as the foundation on which everything else is built. In preparing for the POC, the project team needs to be as inclusive of all interested parties as possible. Clear goals and success criteria need to be defined, and the POC needs to be implemented like it is going to be deployed. The users of the POC need to be supported and have one-on-one time with the project group. Once it is time to wrap up the POC, information must be gathered from the POC users and other data sources should also be consulted. The results must be evaluated so that a vendor can be chosen. In choosing a vendor, a decision has been made to move the project forward. The user community and the company in general must be informed of the decision so that all positive momentum can be captured and built on.