HPC Proofs of Concept & Pilots
Validate before you scale
Together a PoC and pilot reduces technical and operational risk before full-scale deployment, providing evidence for architecture, performance and investment decisions.
Technical feasibility
Architecture, software compatibility, integrations and functional requirements.
Workload validation
Real workloads, data flows, performance characteristics and bottlenecks.
Performance & scale
Benchmarking, utilisation, scalability and infrastructure sizing.
Operational readiness
User workflows, resilience, configuration and production requirements.
PoC: Can it work?
Validates technical feasibility in a controlled environment before committing to a wider deployment.
Typical focus
- Hardware and software compatibility
- Application performance
- Architecture and configuration
- Initial benchmarking
Pilot: Will it work in practice?
Tests the proposed solution under representative operational conditions before wider deployment.
Typical focus
- Real workloads and user workflows
- Integration with existing systems
- Performance and scalability
- Operational readiness
Engagements can involve a PoC, a pilot or both, depending on the project’s requirements.
Why validate before deployment?
A controlled PoC or pilot provides the evidence needed to move from technical assumptions to production decisions.
Expose constraints early
Identify integration, data movement, compatibility and configuration issues.
Workflow bottlenecks
I/O contention, inefficient data movement and fragmented workflows.
Poor deployment fit
Cloud and hybrid architectures misaligned with workload and data requirements.
Unpredictable performance
Queue delays, poor utilisation and inconsistent application performance.
PoC & Pilot Case Study
Validating Manchester Met’s Azure HPC environment
Red Oak supported Manchester Metropolitan University in developing its first centralised cloud HPC environment, including moving its pilot system into a new, segmented Azure tenancy.
We then helped establish a testing phase using real workloads to validate performance, security and operational readiness before the environment was opened to the wider university.
Red Oak Consulting has been instrumental in getting us up to speed, helping us design and deploy an HPC solution that we can genuinely manage and grow ourselves.”
Matthew Jones
Manchester Metropolitan University
FAQs
A PoC or pilot should test the areas that matter to the wider deployment, including application compatibility, workload performance, scalability, storage and I/O behaviour, integration requirements and operational processes. Clear success criteria should be defined before testing begins.
The results should provide enough evidence to make an informed decision about the next stage. This means understanding whether the proposed environment meets technical and performance requirements, identifying any limitations or changes required, and establishing what is needed to move towards production.
Related Services
Commissioning & Acceptance Testing
Ensure your HPC system is correctly configured, integrated and ready for operation, with independent commissioning and acceptance testing covering functionality, performance and reliability.
Solution Design
Translate workload, application and operational requirements into an HPC architecture designed for the target environment.
Workload Optimisation
Analyse and optimise workflows across compute, storage, scalability and job scheduling to improve performance and resource utilisation.
Planning an HPC PoC or pilot?
Get specialist support to validate your approach and reduce risk before wider deployment.
